Offering an antique, hand-made wood box from the late 1800's.

This primitive I was told, was a writing box. The cover lid is hinged not at the back edge of the box, but about 1/4" of the way in, so that pencils would not fall out. 

The box measures 10.5" X 8.5" and about 3.5" in height. It came from an old Norwegian farm here and was painted black and that color is now chipped off in places. There is a cover painting of two blue doves and some hearts and flowers. The bottom was not painted.

The box is structurally sound, hinges tight and box well balanced, but the painting is nicked and chipped and shows it's age.