Skokloster castle, Sweden, houses a group of more than fifty objects in serpentine stone, acquired during the 17th century. The group is generally called Wrangels fältservis [Wrangel's field service], referring to field marshall Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613-1676). The, in many aspects, unresearched material is here approached through the field of material culture studies. The thesis is based on a three-partite approach towards the material, in which the first is the result of actual handling and examination of the objects, paired with a comparative analysis of similar objects regarding dating and influences. The second is a theoretical study of form and serpentine matter, and why the serpentine objects share so many form elements with metal artifacts. The third is based on inventory research and aspects of value, both monetary and cultural. The ascribed value of the group varied over time, from being used as kitchen utensils in the 17th and 18th century, to be regarded as private museum pieces in the 19th and 20th century. The various attitudes have left marks on the objects, both physical (as in level of attention given to repairs etc.) and in inventory matter (as in location and descriptive detail), which can be studied and reveal information otherwise unaccessible.

The art cabinet in the collection of Uppsala University, is a playground. It houses an unusually wide range of games and pastimes for a collection of its period and posture, and with this thesis I want to present a few views on the matter. I have studied these games and pastimes from two different aspects (as applied art objects and from a contextual viewpoint). In the first part, I present the different items of the Uppsala cabinet, with a focus on boardgames, an- amorphs and dice. The second part tries to answer the question why these seemingly private objects were included in an otherwise official setting. In order to do this, I have studied contemporary writings from makers, owners and visitors. Further, I have regarded wear to see first hand how these objects were used. The thesis concludes with a discussion on purpose and use, and why there are so many examples of games de- pending on chance in relation to the normally present strategic games. This wide display of more domestic games could support the theory that the cabinet was originally intended for a female recipient. I also present a few alter- nate views on the context in which they were created.

The collections of the 17th century castle Skokloster by lake Mälaren in Sweden, houses six framed festoons made by shells, conchs, wax and paper in wooden boxes. They are first mentioned in the inventory of 1716, when located in a prayer cabinet in the castle. This room only existed approximately between the 1690's and the 1740's. In this essay, I have studied these festoons from three different aspects (a technical, a thematical/ contextual and an originating viewpoint). The previous lack of research regarding these festoons made them victims of speculations regarding origin and purpose, but after an analysis of the construction and the comprising shells, I can attribute them to a Swedish artisan. But they were not made independently of their contemporary surroundings, and the second part places them within a European cultural context. The festoon as a motif of both Dutch still-life painters such as Jan van Kessel, and as an architectural element of decoration, can be seen as a model for the Skokloster festoons. I have also compared them as curiosity cabinet objects with artefacts in the collections of Ambras castle, Austria, Rosenborg castle in Copenhagen and the inventories of Duke Ferdinand Albrecht's I kunstkammer in Bevern (Lower Saxony, Germany) and the Swedish noble woman Ebba Brahe's home in Stockholm. Finally, in regard to the simplicity of which the Skokloster festoons are made, I consider them not to be made by a professional hand, but rather an amateur. The natural question to follow is what kind of an amateur's work would be held in such high esteem that it would dominate the decorative scheme of this very intimate cabinet? My answer is that its purpose is not primarily a decorative one, but rather that it served as a memento of a lost loved one, a member of family. This person could be Count Nils Brahe of Skokloster (1633-1699). The essay concludes with a discussion of origin, the ways in which ideas travel through societies and cultures, and the level of consciousness the maker must have possessed. I also present a few alternate theses regarding origin.