Children's armour is not one of the numerous surviving objects. This one, kept in Stockholm's Royal Armoury , undoubtedly combines international contexts - it was made in Milan for a Polish royal and looted by Swedish troops. The history of the item can be told in many ways in this case.

Made in Milan around 1605, the armour belonged to Prince Ladislaus (1595-1648), son of Sigismund III Vasa and Anna Habsburg. It was made of steel with gilded decorations. Judging by its size and weight (12 kg) , it was intended for an approximately 10-year-old boy . There are probably about a hundred examples of children's armour preserved in collections and museums around the world , which were used during court ceremonies and public appearances.

The object was looted from Warsaw during the Swedish "deluge". As early as 1656, we find evidence of its presence in the royal collection, and in 1683 in the inventory of the Livrustkammaren (Royal Armoury), where weapons taken out of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were delivered. Another reference comes from 1748, when the armour is described in full: "A small armour of iron, carved with gilded sides on top; the same armour consists of a helmet, epaulettes, breastplate [protecting the chest], foreskin [protecting the back], epaulettes, gauntlets". Until the 1840s entry, there is no information about the previous owner. In 1840, Prince Charles (later King Charles XI) was erroneously identified as the owner of the object, as the armour was included with other children's objects that he owned, such as a wooden horse and riding accessories. This information was repeated in subsequent inventory records, including in 1850, 1855 or 1866 ('The armour of King Charles XI, which he wore as a child, of iron plate, hardened blue and engraved with gilt stripes. [...] It should be noted that the armour was trimmed with red velvet and additional gilding, the finish of which is, however, insufficient and has partly disappeared').

Interestingly, the listing of individual items under different inventory numbers led to a situation where, for example, in 1821 the armoury's inventory recorded the Polish origin of the helmet ('Small iron armour, carved with gilded stripes. The same armour consists of a helmet, ring collar, epaulettes, chest and back element, thigh epaulettes and a pair of gauntlets. It originated in Poland"). The object is a one-piece helmet (23409_LRK), which has a plume holder in the back. The visor, with 12 vertical slits/holes, and the forehead guard were attached to the same shaft. The helmet was decorated with strips of gold approximately 13 mm wide with a vine pattern. In between, there are slightly wider, bluish stripes, also with vines on a punched (?) background. In addition, there are oval fields with floral motifs or nude figures of men or women in various poses. It was not until later, 20th-century in-depth provenance research that the erroneous entries were corrected and the entire object was recognised as coming from Poland and as the property of Prince Wladyslaw.

Used in art history, the history of things as a way of telling the history of objects has undoubted potential in the case of war booty. In-depth provenance research makes it possible to trace the history of objects and create their specific biographies from their creation to the present day. They are also important methods that complement the methodology of historical research and make it possible to examine in detail the path the objects have travelled since their creation.