It’s a little too early here for spring mushrooms but not so for The Peacock Clock’s mushroom. What is that you ask?
Housed in the Pavilion Hall of the State Hermitage Museum, The Peacock Clock is a 10 foot tall structure created by the English jeweler and mechanic James Cox (1723-1800) of gilded bronze and silver. It is comprised of 3 life-size mechanical birds - a peacock, cockerel and owl - that are set into motion by a timepiece which is resting in a slot cut into the cap of a mushroom. The automaton was ordered by Prince Grigory Potemkin as a gift for Empress Catherine the Great and was transported to the Hermitage in 1781 where it resides today.
Currently the clock is set into motion only on Wednesdays. If you can’t make it to the Hermitage that day, check out the following YouTube presentation of the clock in action. Don’t forget to look for the mushroom growing under the oak with a dragonfly delicately perched on the cap located at the 1:25 minute mark.
YouTube presentation from the State Hermitage Museum