Rare Middle Passage 18th Century Slave Shackle, Likely for a Female

Cast iron shackles of the type used to restrain enslaved people aboard the lower decks of a ship during the Middle Passage crossing the Atlantic from Africa to the Americas. Measuring 14.75" from end to end, and each loop measuring approximately 4", circa the 1700s. Weighing 1.20 lbs.  There is expected surface pitting and oxidation from age, having a natural patina.

Provenance: Ibrahim Berthe, noted long-time African Antiquities dealer.

Shackles such as these are a grim reminder of the practices of slave trading that occurred during the Middle Passage Route. A captive African slave's feet would have been bound in each ankle brace hammering in a ring on the end to secure the restraints in place. Due to the small size of this set, it was probably used on a female slave. One end of the shackle has a ring, which would likely have had a chain running through it to connect multiple people together. At the other end is a roughly carved handle. In the case where a slave trader could afford one, a simple early padlock would be used. Similar shackles were also used on hands, though many slaves had their hands bound in cloth and rope.

The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic Slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as Slaves; the Slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking, and they were generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals. From PBS.org, "Out of the roughly 20 million who were taken from their homes and sold into slavery, half didn't complete the journey to the African coast, most of those dying along the way…" 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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