![A wax model attached to a black-painted wooden board, around which a white, folded fabric has been attached with needles. The wax model depicts the lower part of a patient’s face, particularly the mouth, with the top lip swollen.](https://blogs.helsinki.fi/hum-object-of-the-month/files/2021/05/201398a5-kuva-Sanna-Mari-pieni.jpg)
Stadin AO, the Helsinki Vocational College and Adult Institute, donated nine wax models, or moulages, to the Helsinki University Museum in 2013. Initially, no background information on the items was available, but the labels and signatures made it possible to deduce that the objects had been made by Sister Hippolyta and that they originated in Cologne, Germany. Using these snippets of information, it was possible to begin the detective work whose results I am presenting in this blog post.