Silver Swan Automaton… no motors, built in 1773 and still working perfectly.
The Silver Swan is powered entirely by mainsprings and brass clockwork gears.
Why did we stop creating such elegant engineering and beautiful pieces of art… timeless and built to last?
“Hephaistion Made This” in a beautiful trompe-l'oeil piece of paper half unstuck by the wind still some of the rawest stuff ever put in a mosaic (2nd century BC, Pergamon)
Vasco da Gama before the Zamorin of Calicut
by Portuguese artist Veloso Salgado 🇵🇹
Date: 1897/1898
🏛️ Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa (Historical society of Lisbon), Lisbon Portugal 🇵🇹