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Museum object · Slavery and Freedom Objects

Set of wrought iron leg shackles

Before 1860

Africa

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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Shackles consist of an iron bolt with a pair of loops slid onto it thorugh a hole in each end of the loop. One end of the bar is fixed closed by an integral metal flange large enough to prevent the loops from being removed. The other end of the bar ends in an "eye" and is locked by a large "lock washer" inserted at the time the shackles were applied.

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2008.10.4

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