Nathaniel Mills

Nathaniel Mills - England's Most Famous Silver Boxmaker

Nathaniel Mills is without question the most collected and sought after maker of English Sterling Silver Boxes, Vinaigrettes, Snuff Boxes and Card Cases made in the 1800's.

What many collectors of Mills do not realise is that the maker's mark for Nathaniel Mills was not just used by one person but was used by his whole family of silversmiths.  Nathaniel I (1746-1840) was followed in the trade by his sons William and Thomas. Many of the pieces made in from 1840 until 1853 were actually made by William or Thomas, who were partners in Nathaniel Mills & Sons, silversmiths.

William died late in 1853 and although there was a Nathaniel III (1810-1873) he was not trained as a silversmith and did not carry on the family business.

Some of the most collectable pieces made by the Mills family are the 'castle top' boxes. These were made by the repousse (embossing) process or they were die stamped with pictures of famous (or sometimes obscure) buildings and landmarks.  Unfortunately, these beautiful pieces are usually outside of the budget of novice collectors, but they can often be found in the collections of museums and wealthy collectors.

However, there are other less well known members of the Birmingham Silversmiths whose skills were equal or nearly equal to the famous Mills family. These pieces are often available at more affordable prices and any savvy collector will always be on the lookout for these lesser known but equally talented silversmiths. The marks to look for are SP for Samuel Pemberton (there were, in fact, four Samuel Pembertons) - ML for Matthew Linwood (there were six Matthew Linwoods) - JW for Joseph Willmore (there were two Joseph Willmores) - and IT or JT for Joseph Taylor (there is only one Joseph Taylor from this era).

Here are the current Nathaniel Mills auctions: