Restraint
Category
Metalwork
Date
Unknown
Materials
Iron, Leather
Measurements
120 mm (H); 105 mm (W); 40 mm (D)
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Chirk Castle, Wrexham
NT 1170964
Summary
A pair of iron restraints bound in leather, the lock of each comprising two metal spikes with spring plates to prevent opening. British, possibly 19th-century, perhaps used in a medical or judicial context, as the leather binding was presumably intended to limit – to a certain extent – the discomfort caused to the wearer. At some point since the 19th century, an unknown person attached both of these restraints to a staircase finial, NT 1171016.1, for an unknown reason. National Trust staff have assumed that this person intended to reference the enslavement of millions of African people in the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. In the past, this has led staff to catalogue the restraints – erroneously – as both a ‘leg iron’ and a ‘slave bracelet’. One of the cuffs has since been removed from the figure and is stored separately.
Full description
Associated with Chirk Castle
Provenance
Purchased by the National Trust from Mr Guy Myddleton in 2023.