Splendours of the Subcontinent : A Prince's Tour of India, 1875-6

In October 1875 Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, set off on a four-month tour of the Indian subcontinent, to what is now India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. Dur - ing the tour he was presented with a wide array of beautiful gifts. Despite requests from the India Office that the hosts should exercise restraint, the resulting gifts were intricately wrought, regularly of precious metals and often jewelled. Not only did each one of them forge a personal link between the Prince and the donor, but as a collection they proved very influential in Europe.