Old Painted Slide Top Box with Mountain, Trees, and Bunch of 19th C. Letters Inside bowl with face and ears I've long been admiring both

I've long been admiring both the forms and the glorious color on early croquet posts

I like how the lettering plays across the combination of matte red paint and shiny tin surface

Top chain: 14 5/8" l x 1 5/16" w

I'm not an expert on antique bentwood pantry boxes

Old Painted Slide Top Box with Mountain, Trees, and Bunch of 19th C. Letters Inside bowl with face and ears I've long been admiring bothThe mountain dotted with trees and crescent moon in blue sky painted on one side of it is what drew me to this old box, but the paint on the rest of it, and especially the stack of handwritten correspondence inside dating back to the 1850s, sealed the deal! More about the letters below, but first the box, I'd guess painted early 1900s so. The mountain and trees are a bit dark, clearly meant to be a moonlight view, but are very readable, as is a second