GuntherHess, I assumed it was some kind of hardwood by the feel of it in my hand, but I admit I could be wrong. I had it in the freezer for a few months hoping to save it from splitting, and so far that seems to have worked. there is a small crack that has developed along the edge I didn't photgraph. If it is wood, then it is a very dense wood.
how heavy is it? It sort of looks like soapstone too. Its dense but shouldn't be cracking.
When you take the cap off , is there a deep cavity there or very little cavity?
Ivory can be tested. Heat a needle red hot and stick in it. Ivory will smell like burning hair. Bone wont do much. Wood will burn obviously...
It is heavy in the hand, but I'd rule out stone. I'm starting to feel that it might be ivory. The threaded holes on each end are only 1/4" deep at max. I thought that it might have been a handle to something, like a knitting needle. It came from a privy of mostly feminine cast offs, hair clips, and combs, beauty products, womans shoes, glass douches, and even an engraved dainty gold ring that must have slipped off some ladies finger whislt she reached in to take care of business.