Remarable models of flowers about 100-years-old and made in Berlin are part of a collection of around 40 owned by Bolton Art Gallery.

Curator of botany Patricia Francis said: "We have some on display but these are some of the ones we have in storage.

"They are around 100-years-old and were made by Reinhold Brendel of Berlin. They are remarkably detailed models of plants which, in real life, are often only a couple of inches high."

"Thirty-eight models were purchased by Bolton Museum in 1904 with the help of a grant of 50 per cent from the Natural History Museum in London."

According to Patricia, Robert Brendel and his son and successor Reinhold produced botanical and other models in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The elder Brendel founded a model factory in Breslau, Germany. A document produced in 1866 by the factory lists the then 30 highly enlarged scale models of plants in production.

By 1896, Reinhold Brendel had moved the business to Berlin, and from 1902 on, it was located in Grunewald, near Berlin. He was honoured for his achievements with the Prussian silver state medal.

Patricia added: "They are made from many kinds of material including wood, papier-maché, metal and a very early form of plastic.

"The stems of the models are made from bamboo and the finishing touches are made from materials such as animal hairs and glass beads.

"Many of the models come apart so that the internal workings of the plants can be examined - there is even one with a model fly right inside it.

"The plants stand in beautifully turned wooden bases and are all carefully labelled by the original model maker.

"They are accurate scale models of the plant species they represent and were produced as useful aids to teaching botany.

"This was especially useful at the time because microscopes were very expensive and not widely available.

"We all take for granted now that we can see tiny things made larger on our television and computer screens but of course in the past this was not the case.

"Over the past few years the Museum has re-introduced these models to the primary teaching programmes run by the museum education service.

"In supervised sessions children can get to see these objects at close quarters and as teaching aids these models have proved just as useful as they were 100 years ago!"

Six of these incredible models of plants which can be found in the Bolton area are currently on display in the "Wildlife on your Doorstep" gallery in the Museum.