Silver Swans

Today we visited the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. This was a return visit for my Editor and me and also for Son#3; last time we also took Son#2 during his visit to us bit this time it was Son#1 who joined us.

As expected we had a super day. One of the highlights of a visit to the Museum is the automaton silver swan. This musical automaton has become the icon of the Bowes Museum: it dates from 1773 and was first recorded in 1774 as a crowd puller in the Mechanical Museum of James Cox, a London showman and dealer. They wind it up every day at 2pm and run it for its 35-second display. Rotating fine glass rods give the impression of ripples on water, and there are small glass fish which appear to be swimming. The swan itself curves its neck around, then dips its head into the "water", appearing to pick up a fish which it then "swallows". The mechanisn must be very intricate.

As an added bonus, the Museum is currently hosting several Lego models of some of its exhibits (and indeed of the building itself). So in the diptych above I've put a photo of the Lego model of the swan next to a photo of the original.

Today's extra shows the Lego model of the outside of the building - if you like you can compare it with the extra from our previous visit showing the actual outside.