This is a "hair receiver". Ladies would have powder jars, lotions jars and hair receivers on their vanities. The hair receiver was to hold the loose hairs that ladies loose out of their hairbrushes and clothing. They were then used to help with hairdos (ratts), pin cushions and even jewelry/art/adornment!
A good article detailing the full background and info is this go-star.com/antiquing/hairreceivers.htm and hairarchives.com/private/victorian1new.htm
Price ranges from $25 up to hundreds. You can see these sold all over the internet, ebay, etc.