Friday 11 April 2008

A la rowing du temps perdu

The Musee de la Marine in Paris has a delightful collection of tinplate toy boats, including this lovely clockwork rowing boat, made in Paris about 1900. A lad in his straw hat rows strenuously to impress the girl with the parasol - a timeless image.

The collection was exhibited in Paris last year, and is now on show at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney until August. For those of us who unfortunate enough not to be able to make it in person, there is a virtual gallery, which kicks off with a somewhat bizarre picture of the Round Pond in Kensington, London, completely drained of water, revealing a Davey Jones' locker of sunken toy boats on the muddy bottom.

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