This artifact is an old pre-electricity washing machine. Washers like these were designed to create a greater efficiency in labour and resources than hand washing clothing. These types of designs began to crop up in the middle of the nineteenth-century and became common in many households, rural and otherwise.
The design of the washer gave the user a large basin to place clothes and water in, saving time over small buckets. The big advantage, however, was that the hand crank connected to numerous paddles inside. These paddles could simulate the scrubbing touch of multiple people at once, while also requiring the user to use far less physical force to effectively clean.
The stylized M suggests this washer was an early product of the Maytag Corporation. F. L. Maytag expanded his farm implements business to washers in 1907. The company became entirely devoted to washers and related appliances soon after, and still sells these products today.