Picked this up at auction in a box of tools. It looks like a stirrer of sorts I think. My thought is for stirring paint. You rotate the knob at the top to rotate the paddle.
Closer inspection reveals on the plate a symbol of a crest with what looks like a figure with wings on and the number 21634. On the shaft of the stirrer is a Patent number of 398324. The shaft assy unscrews into two sections of the upper knob and the lower paddle. Of the suggestions I think the coffee option might be the most likely one.
The paddle is same but the top is different to mine as it has no holes in it and is flat! But good find. The patent number obviously just covers the paddle as that is removable from the top. Good find though.