Mar 30, 2017 - Sale 2441

Sale 2441 - Lot 6

Price Realized: $ 2,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION--ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE.) Pair of men's Middle Passage wrought iron shackles. Heavy, thirteen inch long bar, with two "cuffs" each approximately three inches in diameter; heavy pitting and rust encrustation consistent with having been excavated. Ghana, circa 18th to early 19th century

Additional Details

an classic example of the type of shackle employed in the atlantic slave trade. Shackles such as these were attached to one's ankles or wrists, in some cases both, according to the testimony given during William Wilberforce's presentation of the Abstract of the Evidence before Parliament (1791). In addition to these heavy, and abrasive shackles, the space allotted a grown man was only 5 feet long by about 16 inches in width. One would have to lie flat on one's back, because there was little room between each deck full of men, women or children.