The Silver Swan

A mechanical automaton, made in about 1773 in the workshop of James Cox of London, a silversmith and dealer. The automaton was recorded as being displayed in Cox’s Mechanical Museum in 1774. In a performance accompanied by music, lasting about 30 seconds, the Swan appears to preen itself, then bend its neck to take a fish out of the water. The automaton comprises three clockwork mechanisms, all working simultaneously to produce the remarkable movement. So lifelike is the result produced by the head and neck mechanism, that it is thought that the celebrated eighteenth century inventor, John Joseph Merlin, was responsible for this part, while apprentices and ordinary craftsmen worked on the rest of the automaton. The Swan was exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition in 1867 and bought by John Bowes in 1872 for his Museum.