ABSTRACT
Most visitors to museums or readers often just glance at an object or its reproduction and then look for a label or caption such as ‘Ekoi headpiece’ or ‘Qait bai mosque, Cairo’ before they turn to a study of the work. Labels and captions provide identification. They are coordinates in space and time and allow the ‘placement’ of objects in relation to others, because they form a grid according to which any work of art can be ordered.
