I found the answer

[Jim Katen]

Ok, it's been a few years and I can't find the thread, but quite some time back, someone posted a picture of a Y shaped ornamental steel bracket that he found in a house and asked what it might have been for. I don't remember who it was or when he posted the question, but I remember the device and I just saw it on the Shorpy blog.

It's a stand for old hot sidearm water tank. There are two in this picture:

http://www.shorpy.com/node/4756?size=_original

- Jim Katen, Oregon