The much-loved Silver Swan at The Bowes Museum has been given a spruce up.
Jong Chan Li and Ted Cliffe from the Cumbria Clock Company worked on the glass rods that create the illusion of flowing water for the 18th century automaton.
“This is a bit of an MoT for the swan,” Jong Chan said.
“We overhauled it about two years ago and every six months or so we come back for a service. There are a couple of inefficiencies which we’re trying to iron out.”
The Silver Swan, which is more than 250 years old, is by the 18 century jeweller and entrepreneur James Cox.
Over time it has inevitably suffered wear and tear – but making sense of previous restoration jobs brings another challenge.
“Something this old has a long history of repairs,” added Jong Chan.
“We’re wrestling not only with the maker and the object itself, but also people like us who came before.
“Let’s say there have been some different approaches over the years.”
The Cumbria Clock Company is one of Britain’s leading restorers of historic clocks and automata. In 2023 it carried out a full refurbishment of the Silver Swan.
Other high-profile projects include the full-scale disassembly and restoration of Big Ben in 2017.
“Working on something like this is special, but we’re happy to take on the widest possible variety of work in our industry,” Jong Chan said.
Fine tuned, and back in peak condition, the Silver Swan performs its routine every day at 2pm, and also at 11.45am on bank holidays and during school holidays.
