Objet (dans le Salle de Bains?)

Approximately 5" tall. 

Yesterday I bought the above item.  I was quite taken with it.   

This morning I couldn't decide what the hell it is, let alone why I bought it, though it was cheap.  I decided to run it past Jerry.


"What do you think this is?" I said, handing it to him.

"A candle?"  he said, giving it the scientist squint.  "It's hollow," he added, helpfully.

At the mad moment of purchase (what is it about Christmas?) I, honest to God, imagined placing it in the upstairs bathroom next to the Kleenex box.  Nancy Reagan, in her memoir, refers to small decorative items as "objets" and says they "warm up" a room.  Jerry refers to such things as knick-knacks, and he doesn't understand them at all.  Neither do I, except in a mad moment at Pier One just before Christmas.

Here is the object in its intended setting, except I can't actually imagine stationing it here:

When does sanity return?

Addendum:  My friend Lin suggests it's a placecard holder.  I think she's right. Got it all wrong.