Industry News

The Bowes Museum  has been awarded funding by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out conservation work on the Museum's Silver Swan.

The Silver Swan is one of the finest examples of 18^th century automata in the world, a life-size, solid silver, replica of a female Swan containing 2,000 moving parts and three clockwork mechanisms. It is a product of the Enlightenment mind, significant to the international historical, horological and scientific sectors.

2023 marks the 250^th anniversary of the Silver Swan first being exhibited in James Cox’s Museum of Mechanical Marvels in London 1773. The Silver Swan has a very special place in public hearts and memories, holding magic and fascination for visitors of all ages.  

The Silver Swan performed daily until 2020 when Museum closures and reduced operations due to the pandemic stopped the Swan’s performances. Conservation and restoration are required, to conserve elements of the Swan’s mechanisms, before it can perform again.

Research showed the cost of the full restoration project to be more than £400,000. The Museum decided to focus on the most urgent elements within the 2023 Swan Conservation project and is delighted to have been awarded £146,342 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, a significant contribution towards total costs of £199,142, for this project. The Museum will be fundraising for the remaining balance throughout autumn/ winter; this includes a public crowdfunding campaign prior to Christmas.

Hannah Fox, The Bowes Museum’s Executive Director said “Thank you to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting this project, we are delighted with the outcome of our grant application! The Silver Swan is incredibly important to our communities. We can’t wait to get started and inspire the next generation of artists, makers, designers and inventors.”

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “It’s wonderful news that, thanks to National Lottery players, we’re able to support The Bowes Museum with this project to restore the unique Silver Swan. It will be incredibly exciting to see this amazing example of automata heritage brought back to life so that local people and visitors from further afield can enjoy its magic for years to come.”

The 2023 Swan Conservation project is another stage on the Silver Swan’s fantastic journey. It follows work in 2008 that saw each of the Swan’s hundreds of parts cleaned, inspected and condition checked, measured, photographed and given a unique accession number. In 2021, the Museum conducted an extensive investigation into the Swan’s mechanism to identify what future action to take to preserve the mechanism and eliminate faults that could lead to breakdown.

The 2023 Swan Conservation project will take place from September to December 2023. Conservators will dismantle and remove the neck/head assembly, as 12 neck rings require attention. The drive units will be fully disassembled and serviced.  The neck assembly, music box and glass rods will be serviced, and the operating mechanisms will be dismantled and cleaned before minor repairs, lubrication, and re-assembly. The Museum will receive a full conservation report, a 5-year service plan, an operations and maintenance manual as well as the mechanical details of the neck, head and beak.  Following this work, the aim is for the Silver Swan to perform again, sustainably.

The Cumbria Clock Company, which has previously worked on Big Ben and the astronomical clock at Hampton Court Palace, has been appointed to undertake the specialist conservation and repair work alongside the Museum’s conservation team and conservation interns from Birmingham City University and West Dean College. Where possible, the work will take place inside the Museum and visitors will be able to watch the expert horologists in action.

The public will have the opportunity to get involved in the 2023 Swan Conservation project through a programme of public engagement; conservator talks, a Creative Heritage Residency, workshops for young people, families and schools, webcam access allowing access to the work that can't take place in the public galleries and there will also be volunteers available to answer questions in the gallery while the work is ongoing.

The Bowes Museum's Director of Programmes and Collections, Vicky Sturrs said: "It is fantastic that we have received this funding allowing us to bring the Silver Swan back to life. It's only fitting that as an automaton, we should ensure that it continues to operate otherwise we risk it becoming just another object - albeit a very beautiful one but not the kind it was intended to be.  We also have to be mindful that as a delicate, fragile and old machine we must ensure that the work is carried out sympathetically and sustainably to allow future generations to enjoy it operating for another 250 years." Should you wish to support the fundraising campaign for conservation and restoration of the Silver Swan, please contact Kelly Smith.