“Kurab-a-Kulang” Armor

Armor made using layered sheets of carabao horn joined with a brass mesh fabric. It is closed at the front using embossed silver clasps.
One type of object used by the Moors in the south of the islands had a clear Spanish origin: their armor. This sort of defensive armor was used exclusively by this community and could not be found in the rest of the Philippines. Native craftsmen copied this armor, which had been taken from the Spanish, making them with native materials they had to hand, such as carabao horn (from the water buffalo). The embossed silver embellishments were shaped into curvilinear motifs characteristic of the "ukkil": scrolls, leaves, vines, etc., though the use of chain links had already been known to the islanders since the 10th century.