Guess what this is

[Martin Prior]

Looks like something worn in a Shakespearean play!!

And here was I too thinking it was a cod-piece from an old suit of armour.   Cheers, Bill in Oz

Cripes, Bill!  The black bit is a hardened steel spike - imagine where that would point in a codpiece!

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I too think this is a later iteration. The example shown was in use in the sixties on small round sealed cans of oil, as refillable bottles were being phased out.
I have one from the  teens and twenties, it is a brass and steel stirrup that lodges under the corner of the 4 gallon square tin can. There is a handle which presses the spout into the top corner. These tin cans came as a pair in a wooden box for delivery into parts of the country where there was no pumped fuel supply.

I think you're right about the date.  Mine from the early 'seventies, is identical apart from being (poorly) chrome plated.