Chinese Opera box what's going on with it?

Hi just wondering if you can help me work out what the story is with this opera box.
The sides appear to be painted a different color but it's possible that that was done originally maybe? The wear at the interface of the sides the top and the front (the edges) rolls around. If the sides were switched out, they were replaced a long time ago.
The hinges seem to have been replaced. And the repairs on the inside the metal plates don't seem that old.

I considered whether this could be a reproduction that is deliberately aged but I'm not sure. The wear seems pretty comprehensive particularly on the front.

It's quite a light timber. The whole thing is not heavy

To clean it up I was thinking of putting some Chinese ink all over the sides and top to just kind of tie it in together. Then coating the whole lot in beeswax.

 

photo's not coming thru..............

 

Photos first set

 

Second set of photos

 

And the other thing about it is when you photograph it up close the camera picks up the colors and lightens it and it looks quite stunning but these photos in this particular post right here is what it looks like ordinarily. It just kind of looks dark and beat up lol

 

& it is beat up....but it's nice and looks as though someone wanted it to continue living for a while longer..!

 

What do you think about my proposal to stain the top and sides to try to make it look less rough. I won't touch the front

 

I would advise against using beeswax on East Asian lacquer. Museums have bad experiences with beeswax causing metal corrosion on lacquer (Asian black lacquer contains iron) and 'blooming' of beeswax.
I would use a microcrystalline wax such as Renaissance wax.

I would leave it as is, just coat it gently with microcrystalline wax.
If the top and sides bother you, a nice embroidered silk cloth can cover those.

 

I'd leave bad enough alone. I don't know enough about proper wax to weigh in, but usually with old stuff like this, the best option is to dust it off and keep it out of direct sunlight.