Background
The son of James Sillett of Eye, Suffolk, he was born at Norwich in 1764.
The son of James Sillett of Eye, Suffolk, he was born at Norwich in 1764.
From 1787 to 1790 he studied in the schools of the Royal Academy.
After working there for a time as an heraldic painter, he moved to London, where he was employed as a copyist by the Polygraphic Society. He became a good miniaturist, and painted game, fruit, and flowers with considerable skill. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1796 and 1837.
His address is given as 12, Mansfield Place, Saint Georges Fields, London, in 1796 and 16, Charles Street, Covent Garden, in 1798.
After this his address is given as Norwich or Lynn, sometimes with alternative London addresses provided. In about 1804 Sillett went to live at Lynn, where he taught drawing and made the illustrations for William Richards"s History of Lynn, published in 1812.
In 1810 he moved back to Norwich, where he spent the rest of his life. He was president of the Norwich Society of Artists in 1815 but was one of those who seceded from the group the following year, and held their own exhibition.
He died at Norwich on 6 May 1840.