Examining artefacts does not always allow us to trace their provenance in full. In some cases – such as when analysing weapons – doubts are likely to remain for a long time. Extreme caution must also be exercised when dealing with artefacts known to have been made in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but for which we are unable to determine their fate in later periods. One such artefact is a mace held at the Army Museum in Stockholm.

The period of the Great Northern War (1700–1721) remains poorly researched in many respects, including the organisation of looting and the compilation of lists of specific looted objects. There were several reasons for this, stemming in part from the nature of the war. One of the aims of the looting during the Swedish ‘Deluge’ was to destroy ideological centres in Polish territories, and for this reason the acquisition of war booty was organised centrally; The Swedes carried out their plundering in a systematic manner, and the valuable items acquired in this way (e.g. works of art, weapons, and everyday objects) were treated primarily as a means of enriching Sweden, but also as remuneration for officers and soldiers. In the case of the Great Northern War, research in this area is much more difficult, as officers and soldiers acquired items not only for the benefit of the Kingdom, but also – having received permission from King Charles XII of Sweden – Charles XII – for their own personal use. In the latter case, the scale of the phenomenon appears to have been much greater, as evidenced, for instance, by the correspondence of Swedish officers. For example, the head of the Swedish General War Commissariat, Magnus Stenbock, corresponded with his wife, Eva Oxenstierna, and reported to her, amongst other things, on the progress of military operations, whilst also issuing instructions regarding the spoils of war sent to her. The private nature of some of the looted items also means that, to date, no inventories of items removed from that period have been found, with the exception of registers of artillery pieces or weapons, which were drawn up for the purposes of the national administration.

One of the objects whose provenance is uncertain is a mace, which forms part of the collection at the Armémuseum in Stockholm (AM.091133). It was made within the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was probably looted during the Great Northern War. The object’s documentation states that it was purchased by a private individual in 1946 and donated to the museum in 1990. Maces served a combat function, but also emphasised the dignity of their owner, such as a hetman in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, hence their alternative name: ceremonial mace. Various examples are known to exist in Polish collections, but one of the most valuable is the mace of Prince Władysław Zygmunt Waza, later King Władysław IV, which is held in the Military Collection of the Wawel Royal Castle. However, they were also known outside Poland, mainly to emphasise the prestige of their owners.

The mace, kept in the Royal Armoury in Stockholm, was made of wood and brass. It is 63 cm long and 7.25 cm in diameter, and weighs 594 g. Its pommel is onion-shaped and adorned with decoration. At the widest part of the pommel there are three decorative elements featuring a motif of leaves and flowers. Between them are three vertically positioned feathers. The upper and lower sections of the shaft are covered with brass plates featuring longitudinal patterns, creating a striped effect. In the section between the shaft and the pommel, and on the end pommel itself, there is a vertical band decorated with rhombuses and circles. The grip is covered in short-pile red velvet, which is generally in good condition, though it has shrunk slightly and a thicker fabric is visible underneath.