Pre-Viking Iron Slave Chain Shackle

6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

101 in. (4.45 kg, 2.57 m long).

Comprising thirty-eight 8-shaped iron links, with interstitial H-shaped twisted elements; securing ring at the upper end; iron ring at the lower end with thick linked ring and two substantial shackles, each a pair of parallel bars with a loop at each end; attached to each a flat rectangular-section fetter with substantial retaining rivet. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.

Literature

Cf. iron collar from John’s Lane, Dublin, now in the National Museum of Ireland.

Footnotes

The shackles are formed with an elliptical void in order to accommodate a human foot, closed with an iron rivet which could not have been easily removed without heating the metal.

CONDITION

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LOT 1448