This is a terrible beauty: an armour made out of pangolin scales, and embellished with gold, ivory, pearls and precious stones. Each scale has been individually worked upon, to make patterns and motifs. The coat overlaps on the front, is padded with green velvet and has wide sleeves. The coat is matched with a similarly ornamented helmet. This armour was gifted to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) from the Maharaja of Datia, in 1875-76, when the Prince toured India. It was an object meant to impress-- for its craftsmanship, material and opulence. We only know of two such armours in the world!

A pangolin is a slow-moving insect-eating animal that curls up into a ball to protect itself from predators. Armours such as this one meant hunting of these creatures and several pangolins were likely used to put these objects together. The scales belong to the Manis Pentadactyla species, which are found in Nepal, north-east India and Bangladesh. Personally, as beautiful and intricate the craftsmanship is, the killing of pangolins (or any animal for that matter) is totally unjustified!