What the heck is it?

At my birthday party, Jain (the talented artist whose 3D art you absolutely should be buying now; go here to see some of what she has on offer) gave me the following extremely cool glass object.

Click on the image to see a much larger, more detailed one.

The tubes poking from it are hollow, and the bit in the middle will spin.

I quite like this little guy. Everyone at the party did. There's just one little problem with it.

None of us knows what it is.

Oh, we all have theories, and most agree it's some sort of lab device, but no one could definitively state what it is.

Do any of you know? If so, would you please tell me?