A sobering set of wrought-iron ankle shackles used to restrain people below deck as they were transported from Africa to enslavement have gone on permanent display in a room of beautiful sculptures at the Walker art gallery in Liverpool.
The shackles have been placed near sculpted portraits of the Sandbach family made in the 19th century by John Gibson, Liverpool’s leading sculptor. The family members were part of the Sandbach, Tinne and Co dynasty that made an immense fortune trading in enslaved people and their output, including sugar, rum, molasses, timber and coffee.
