Unique antique fitted leather over wood box.  Looks to have been for sewing or maybe personal valet items.  Elongated octagonal form.  Top decorated in handpainted center floral decoration with brass fittings.  Brass hinge and fittings on edges when opened.  Velvet and fabric lined with the lining missing from the interior of the lid.  Signed and dated on bottom - Faint part above looks to read "Mary Catherine" and the date "1887 Tate".

I looked online and found a Mary Catherine Tate referenced on some genealogical websites as being born in St Thomas Barbados in 1830 and a burial around 1887 in Burke County NC.  Which stands to reason since the majority of the low country of North and South Carolina where settled by emigres from Barbados.  They moved from the island to start the plantations along the coast of the Carolinas.

The box stands 4.25" high - 4.25" wide - 2.5" deep.