Learn more about this noteworthy feature from our April 28 American, Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts auction.
03/31/2020 News and Film, American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts
Update: The Shadowbox with Masonic Model by George M. Silsbee sold for $6,250 in our American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts auction of April 28.
Shadowbox with Masonic Architectural Model Made by George M. Silsbee (1840-1900), c. 1880, mixed media
This shadowbox with a remarkable mixed media Masonic architectural model was made by artist, miner and engineer George M. Silsbee (1840-1900) in Leadville, Colorado in the 1880s. Born in Oneida County, New York, Silsbee moved with his family as a young child to Wisconsin. In 1862, Silsbee enlisted at Kenosha in Company A, First Wisconsin Cavalry.
He served three years and participated in the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He spent 20 years in Leadville with his widowed father. Silsbee was listed as a member of Kenosha Masonic Lodge, No. 46, Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1875. The model descended in the family of Silsbee's sister to the present owner.