AFA Autumn 2021

Autumn 80 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com by Robert McCracken Peck Fig. 2: Snuff Box, Nathaniel Mills (1766-1840), Nathaniel Mills & Sons, Birmingham, England. Date stamped 1831 and with maker’s hallmarks. Silver, 3⅜ x 1⅜ x ⅞ inches. Private collection. Photography by Will Brown. J ohn James Audubon (1785–1851) casts a long shadow on the history of American natural history and art (Fig. 1). His publications on birds and mammals were among the largest and most beautiful ever made. His personality too was larger than life. One seldom discussed aspect of his colorful life is revealed by a small silver snuff box that has an English origin and an American provenance (Fig. 2). It was made by the Birmingham silversmith Nathaniel Mills (1766–1840) and given to the artist in 1831. Admiring the elegant simplicity of the box and the friendship it represented, Audubon kept it with him for the rest of his life.