My best guess for those copper windings is that this is the innards of some kind of bell box to communicate with the servants.
Actually, a quick google has confirmed this. It is the mechanism associated with an indicator box of this kind:-
Antique miscellaneous such as this are historical limited editions (date of manufacture is Edwardian). Cherished back then - rare find today. Priced at £325. For sale by I M Chaney Antique Furniture.
www.sellingantiques.co.uk
The electromagnets would move an indicator card in the appropriate window for the room where service was required, as in this video. The rotten fragments of some of the old cards are visible in your picture:-