This study has aimed to understand Suggan and Galten as its history and story has changed through time. To achieve this a biography perspective are applied. Suggan and Galten is war trophies taken from Russians during the Livonian war (1558-1583) and now presented at Gripsholm castle. Apart from understanding their history this study is going to discuss Suggan and Galtens role as war trophies, furthermore how they relate to society both now and then. But also, how they are viewed upon as cultural heritage.  This thesis has been based on a litterature study with supplementary illustrations to put Suggan and Galten in a larger context. In the litterature study an object biographical perspective has been obtained to be able to study the entire life story. Materiality and agency have also been used to explain human relationships to the cannons and to try to clarify peoples actions around them. The object biographical perspective has verified several aspects of Suggan and Galtens life journey. With the help of the theoretical starting point, the development of the cannons from Äldre Vasatiden to the present day has partly been accounted for. The study describes how Suggan and Galten were casted in Moscow by casting master Andrei Chekhov. How they were used by the Russian army in the Livonian war. Then taken over by the Swedes and shipped to Sweden. Once on Swedish soil, they participated in a trophy parade and then became cultural heritages at Gripsholm castle. War trophies refer to an object taken during conquest, which Suggan and Galten were. Furthermore, they have been used as war trophies in parades to demonstrate the power of the royal family. It was also during this time that the cannons began to develop into a cultural heritage. Only when the cannons were placed at Gripsholm castle where they considered as cultural heritage. / Studien har undersökt Suggan och Galtens livshistoria från tillverkningen i Ryssland till utställningen på Gripsholms slott. Syftet och frågeställningarna har varit att förstå och tydliggöra Suggan och Galtens utveckling genom tid och rum. Samt att redogöra för kanonerna som krigstroféer och varför dem blivit det. Slutligen har kulturarvsfrågan diskuterats utifrån objekten och hur de har speglats i samhället både då och nu.  Uppsatsen har baserats på en litteraturstudie med kompletterande bildmaterial för att sätta Suggan och Galten i ett större sammanhang. I litteraturstudien har ett objektbiografiskt perspektiv erhållits för att kunna studera hela livshistorien. Materialitet och agens har också använts för att förklara människans relation till kanonerna och för att försöka klarlägga personers handlingar kring dem. Det objektbiografiska perspektivet har verifierat flera aspketer av Suggan och Galtens livsresa. Med hjälp av den teoretiska utgångspunkten har kanonernas utveckling från Äldre Vasatiden fram till idag delvis kunnat redogöras för. Studien redogör för hur Suggan och Galten gjöts i Moskva av gjutmästare Andrej Chokhov. Hur de användes av den ryska armén i livländska kriget för att sedan övertas av svenskarna och skeppas till Sverige. Väl på svensk mark deltog de i troféparaden för att sedan bli ett kulturarv på Gripsholms slott.  Krigstroféer syftar på föremål som tagits under erövring vilket Suggan och Galten gjordes. Vidare har de som krigstroféer använts i triumfparader i syfte till att påvisa kungafamiljens makt. Det var även under den här tiden som kanonerna började utvecklas till ett kulturarv. Först när kanonerna placerades på Gripsholms slott ansågs de som fulländade kulturarv.

This thesis investigates a part of the material culture of higher education through an object biographical case study of Félix Thibert’s moulages. The object biography operates with a diachronic perspective that offers an object-centered historiography of university collections, revealing that the need for collecting and imaging in science consistently remains, even though the role and significance of pathological moulages in research and education have changed over time. The moulages are epistemic things as described by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger. They embody what we do not yet know and they become marginalized when no one expects them to generate new discoveries. Their ontology and function are dependent on the dominating epistemic culture. John V. Pickstone outlines three ways of knowing, which gradually have dominated since the Renaissance: natural history, analysis and experiment. Thibert’s moulages are clearly anchored in analysis as a way of knowing for which the museum is an important arena. The findings of this thesis show that university museums and their collections were of immense importance for the production of knowledge during the 19th century, while today they often fall short of their knowledge-generating potential. There are nevertheless methods that can help them reach their full potential, among them a displaying method proposed by Karin Tybjerg considered in this thesis and the object biography of which this thesis consists. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.