Early 20th C Hand Painted Floral Box

A little wooden box, hand-painted with a flower that’s now faded into the surface like it’s always been there. Simple inside — just two compartments and a hinge — the kind of straightforward folk piece you’d find in homes across Europe.
 
The flower’s somewhere between a peony and a lotus, depending on how you look at it, and that ambiguity only adds to its charm. Modest, useful, and carrying the kind of easy character that comes with age and use.