Do you think this would make a nice jewelry box?  If so, don't tell a priest.  It's actually a tabernacle used to store the consecrated host, which in Roman Catholic theology has been transubstantiated into the body of Christ. 

As this article in today's New York Times points out, it's becoming relatively easy to buy liturgical items de-accessioned from deconsecrated churches.  Just beware of admonitions from offended faithful:

The altar was old. It was ornate. And it was on the gambling floor of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The Rev. James Lang was startled when he saw it there. Father Lang, vicar of parishes for the Roman Catholic diocese of Syracuse, had a chat with the manager. The altar eventually was removed.

"They thought it looked cool," Father Lang said.

It was also part of a growing phenomenon: religious artifacts are migrating as America's shifting population leaves empty churches across the Midwest and Northeast. This March, New York City's archdiocese recommended shutting 31 metro parishes, and Boston has closed almost 60 in three years.

So, chalices appear in antique shop windows. A confessional turns up in an Italian cafe. A stained-glass window of St. Patrick lands in a pub.

People who deal in such artifacts say interest in them is growing. . . .

The Rev. Pat Butler, a priest from Albany, wishes there were a national clearinghouse for religious artifacts. He worries about how much is being lost or desecrated.

He recalled once visiting a Missouri home furnished with an altar and church candlesticks bought at an auction. The owner explained how she had also wanted a certain gold box for her jewelry.

"I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up," Father Butler says. He asked her to describe it. The box was a tabernacle, the enclosure for consecrated hosts, often kept at the center of the altar.