Alien Infiltrates White House?

Yesterday, Gawker did a thing on some recent official White House photos. While glancing through them, Fosco's eyes were drawn to something strange. Here is the pic:


I've circled the thing that bothers me (on the far right, behind President O). Now Fosco doesn't know much about interior decorating or antique furniture (he leaves that to people more qualified), but what exactly is that thing? It looks like a wok on legs. And not very sturdy, oddly ugly legs at that. Now I'm sure that that thing is a very very expensive thing. And probably a very very old thing. But I still don't understand what it is and what it is doing there. It's like some sort of proto-organic life form.

Can anyone enlighten me?