Visual Spirits on Instagram: "The Silver Swan is a breathtaking 250-year-old automaton, handcrafted in 1773 by James Cox and John Joseph Merlin. Made of silver and powered by complex clockwork, it beautifully mimics a real swan gliding across water. It moves its head, preens its feathers, and even catches a fish, all set to gentle music. This mechanical masterpiece is still on display at the Bowes Museum in England, where it performs every day."

Tetiana Pfaifer on Instagram: "The Peacock Clock is one of the most famous masterpieces of decorative automaton art.. When activated, the peacock slowly opens its tail, the owl turns its head, the rooster crows — and time becomes a performance. The time is shown in a slot in the cap of the mushroom. Today this is the only large 18th-century automaton that has come down to use altered and in functioning condition. Created in London by James Cox in the 1770s and later acquired for Catherine the Gr