Persian mail and plate shirt.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by russel

I work at a museum, and I can confirm first hand that curators are reluctant to ever admit they are wrong. I have presented extensive, accurate information concerning erroneous labelling, but it always seems to fall on deaf ears. I call it "I'm the expert" syndrome.

Russel, that must be frustrating, do you have any examples you can show.

Here is an example of what can happen with one misidentified object. A photographer took some photos of objects from the Wellcome Collection a few years ago including the mask, now his photo has been reposted all over the internet with the wrong description.
https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sb...XN3x5gbxCBLW1A

[Kubur]

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/openco...th_Dragon_Head

labelled as Ottoman axe 18th
instead of Qajar 19th

You have hundred of examples...
and it is worst in the storerooms than the exhibition rooms!

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Kubur

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/openco...th_Dragon_Head

labelled as Ottoman axe 18th
instead of Qajar 19th

You have hundred of examples...
and it is worst in the storerooms than the exhibition rooms!

Definitely not Ottoman!!!

Battle-Axe with Dragon Head
Shared motifs and designs in the art of diverse cultures along the Silk Route provide some of the most visible evidence of cultural transmission between China and the Islamic world. Through trade, tribute, gift exchange, and the spread of religions such as Buddhism, Manichaeism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, imagery associated with one artistic tradition was often adapted or incorporated in another cultural context. Motifs that appear across the arts of China, Central Asia, and the Islamic world include fantastical animals such as dragons and phoenixes; cloud bands and cloud collar motifs; and flowers such as lotuses and peonies. Yet the meanings linked to these motifs often did not transfer from one context to the next. Similar imagery could exist simultaneously in several regions while signifying different things.

The dragon represents one of the enduring motifs of Chinese art; it has acquired a range of auspicious meanings over time, symbolizing creation, life-giving rain, and the benevolent power of the emperor.

Dragons were also familiar to Iranian, Anatolian, Central Asian, and Indian cultures and were represented as peaceful and benevolent or terrifying and violent depending on Manichaean, Soghdian, Khotanese, or Armenian mythology. The dragon decorating the back of an Ottoman axe might have served as a fear-inducing and simultaneously protective image.

Medium: Steel
Dates: 17th-18th century
Period: Ottoman dynasty
Dimensions: 31 in. (78.7 cm) Other (Blade): 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm) (show scale)
Collections:Arts of the Islamic World
Museum Location: This item is not on view
Accession Number: 42.245.5
Credit Line: Gift of Percy C. Madeira, Jr.
Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY
Caption: Battle-Axe with Dragon Head, 17th-18th century. Steel, 31 in. (78.7 cm).