Object
→Planispheric Astrolabe
1654–55 · Mashhad · brass and steel · The Met 63.166a–j
Objects
One work at a time
Each page resolves to an independent museum record and keeps accession number, material, dimensions, image status, and uncertainty visible.
Curator's evidence fileobjects / ONE-WORK-AT-A-TIME
One work at a time
Each page resolves to an independent museum record and keeps accession number, material, dimensions, image status, and uncertainty visible.
| Observe | Describe material, form, marks, wear or spatial relation without assigning identity or purpose. Begin with “Planispheric Astrolabe.” |
|---|---|
| Context | Locate the record in excavation, collection, restoration and display history. Check the chain against the page sources and linked institutional records. |
| Infer | Begin with observable features, connect each inference to a source, and mark the point where evidence gives way to a plausible but revisable interpretation. Tie every attribution to the feature that supports it and retain competing readings. |
| Withhold | Do not extend “Astrolabe of ‘Umar ibn Yusuf” beyond the date, sample, comparison or provenance actually documented. |
Provenance checkpoint
List each custody or documentation gap separately; an unknown interval is evidence about the record, not permission to invent continuity.
Catalogue note
10th century · China, Wuyue kingdom · leaded bronze · The Met 25.217.3 Mark later repairs, labels and digital reconstructions as later interventions rather than original features.
Research-room promptWhat single comparison object, technical test or archive entry would most change the interpretation of One work at a time?