Is there a "Made in India" tag on the bottom? This looks like a 20th century (likely 1960s or 1970s) artistic interpretation of a British Army Shako as a trinket box, and the copper just screams India to me....
I'm guessing tobacco humidor. However, your juxtaposition with food stuffs suggests that you think it's a spice container, which is certainly possible. I think it's walnut, but that only suggests that it was probably made in the midwest.