The fascination for Indian costumes and accessories lead to detailed documentation of what people wore and carried. The Gentil Album, commissioned by Col JBJ Gentil, around 1774 in Faizabad is a great example of this curiosity and patronage.

The artist has treated arms and ornaments as one would scientific samples, and done his best to fit as many pieces as possible into the folio. Tiny handwriting in the French reads 'bijoux pour les femmes' [jewels for women] on the left and 'pour les hommes' [for men] on the right in the lower margins and 'armes indienne' [indian arms] on the top right. What we lose in this kind of visualisation is scale-- how big were these ornaments? Who wore them, and where on the body? Of course, portraits of Indians wearing such jewellery were in circulation, so there were multiple sources to get an idea of what people wore!