The embodiment of victory : Heritagisation of war trophies in early modern Sweden

Abstract: This study explores the heritagisation of war trophies in early modern Sweden. The ways in which contemporary artefacts have been historicised and charged with new meanings through specific practices are analysed. These practices form part of a process enacted by a network of human agents and objects constituting an early example of heritagisation. The empirical material comprises selected objects in the collection of the Swedish Army Museum, archive documents and printed royal decrees and resolutions. By examining objects as well as contemporary texts on the collecting and the display of the trophies, a process that has influenced collection management in museums of today is recorded and analysed. The study adheres to the interdisciplinary field of Critical Heritage Studies and proposes that a critical approach to the production of heritage might be applied also to early modern times.   Sökord: War trophies, collections, antiquarian practices, cultural heritage