My mother gave me this thingy-ma-bob. It was my great aunts.

It is similar to the one pictured below, but a bit more decorative and marked Sterling with fancy scripted markings of RW with a lion in the middle. Can't find the maker online so I guess I'll go to the library.

Anyway, it took me the longest time to figure out what it was. (I have two actually, a slimmer version)

What do you think it is? My sister-in-law steered me in the right direction.