okay, I believe it's a vase, but it has a name and it eludes me. It is British I believe, and falls into a genre called Crested china or Crested pottery - the cresst is a variation of the town of Whitby - the snail looking things are just that - they are a fossil, called ammonite, and as with all things medieval, there're legends sort of on the order of the legend of St. Patrick driving out the snakes from Ireland. It may be of a souvenir type available to persons whose last name is Whitby. A coat of arms created using symbols of ancient heraldry. I didn't find the maker Bemma. KB