Any ideas?

[Dropacent]

I was told this was a cutout. I’m thinking more a carburation device. Anyone know? It’s all brass.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Buick for a number of years used a carburetion system, that split the carburetor into different sections. Float and jets were in one area, throttle body in another (really makes it tough to try a different carburetor on them). While I have never seen one exactly like that one, they had a "two pipe" warming system that looked very similar to what your incomplete setup has. Buick's used a control valve, and ran hot exhaust gasses through a thermal exchange chamber between the jets and the throttle body to help with atomization of the fuel/air mixture. I do not think this one is Buick (although it may be an early version?). It appears to have had water flowing through the lower chamber. Probably from the cooling system again to warm up the fuel/air mixture. Quite a few cars of the mid '10s did something similar. Quite a number of cars during the mid '10s into the early '20s put the carburetor on the side of the block opposite the valves, and ran the fuel vapors through that to heat them up.
I don't recognize it to anything specific. Hopefully someone hear can.
You probably already know all of that. But maybe someone can pick something up out of it and recognize it from your pictures.

[Kaiser]

could it be to start on gas and switch to a wood-gasifier when the engine warmed up... just a thought.
interesting item ! wonder what turns up here...

[John kuehn]

That looks like something for the fuel system off an early industrial stationary engine instead of automotive use.
Probably someone will eventually identify it.