WEEK 1: The Peacock Clock

I’m taking the Time class this semester, so the element of time in automatons is on my mind. I was researching some cool clocks when I came across the Peacock Clock, made by James Cox in 1777, which is located in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Peteresburg. I hadn’t really thought about how wind-up clocks are examples of automatons. What interests me about this automaton is that while it is a clock, the time isn’t prominently displayed like a regular clock with hands; the time is somewhat hidden in the cap of a mushroom at the base of the huge sculpture. There are many moving parts, including the peacock that displays its feathers, an owl turning its head, a rooster opening and closing its mouth, and a series of bells that play a melody. The craftsmanship and intricacy are absolutely incredible.


Activity

My toy is a plastic chicken that, when wound up, moves forward and flaps its wings.



Predictions:

I think that once it is wound up, a gear is connected to a gear attached to a bar between the two wheels. Additionally, the same gear connects to two levers that move the wings up and down. I don’t understand why the wheels don’t move backward when it’s wound up - are the gears angled diagonally so it only “catches” when it goes forward? And it feels like there is a spring somewhere but I can’t figure out where.

Disassembly


I took apart the toy as much as I could, but the box that houses the gears was locked up pretty tight and I was worried about breaking it. Luckily I could see through the small openings how it worked When the toy is wound up, a gear that is engaged with a gear connected to a bar attached to the two wheels turns (my prediction was correct about that). What I was wrong about was the mechanism that moves the wings up and down. The red case attaches to that black box - but very loosely - so it can move up and down to move the wings. A small extension of the wings sits under that red case so they tilt up and down when the wheels turn. Also, it only sometimes spins around and I don’t know why - maybe something to do with the thing I labeled “wind up thing stabilizer”?



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