Any Guesses?

While Sydney and Ryan went camping last weekend, I took the boys out to my parents' house for a break change of scenery. One of their neighbors was having a garage sale and to be friendly, we ambled over to have a look. My dad picked up a new-to-him extension ladder (how exciting!) and my mom bought some copper pots and pans (five for $20!) that I'm going to clean up and polish for her as her Christmas present (inexpensive present - yay!).

I had my eye on a couple of cast iron skillets, but they were a bit rusty and I wasn't quite sure I was capable of using them correctly or cleaning them without ruining them.

And then I saw this:




As a person with a degree in history, I am a sucker for anything that might be considered historical and/or antiquey (yes, I just made up that word, but you know what I mean).

The owner told me what she thought it was, but she never used it for its expressed purpose, only for decoration.

I've googled it and it is indeed what she said it was, but I want to see if anyone can guess its purpose. Any ideas?

(Here's a hint - I think my Ohio readers may have an advantage as they may have seen or used one of these before.)