[estcrh]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Ibrahiim and all, I have found that museums in general do not want to be told that they are wrong, here is another example. Recently I spotted this image being posted all over the internet. It is a samurai full face mask (somen), there is no doubt about that, anyone can google "samurai somen" and come up with matching images. There are several different versions of this somen but all have the same basic description.

So I did a little detective work and found the photographer responsible for taking one of the images, he was actually very cordial, he stated that he simply copied the museums description of the image and he felt that seeing the respectable nature of the museum (The Wellcome Collection) that owns the somen that they must be right in the accuracy of the description, but he did say that if the museum changed their description that he would do the same on his images.

So I did a little more digging and found links to the images with the wrong description. (http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/M0005113.html) and (http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/M0005114.html). So I thought that this would be an easy one, I contacted the museum many months ago and sent them all of the information they would need to see that the item being described as a "European executioners mask" was in fact a samurai somen. Well the mask is still mislabeled and the museum never replied to me.

Update, after contacting the Wellcome Collection again I finally received a response.

I am writing to thank you for your e-mail of 11 September letting us know about the mis-identification of the Japanese Somen which features in our permanent exhibition “Medicine Man” (currently suspended while building work is completed).

We are very grateful to you for pointing out this mis-identification which seems to have come with the object when it was originally acquired for Henry Wellcome’s collection, but has obviously been repeated in different places at different times.

The Somen will go on display again in February next year when our permanent exhibitions re-open, and the accompanying ‘information’ will of course be corrected in accordance with the information you have kindly passed on.

With many thanks for your help, and very best wishes, James

James Peto
Senior Curator
Public Programmes
Wellcome Trust
215 Euston Rd
London NW1 2BE