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BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
The
earliest evidence of tattooing is traced back to 4000 B.C. Egypt.
It was from Egypt that tattooing traveled to across the world.
To appear, disappear, and then reappear through out history.
The evidence was found on clay dolls, which had markings on them they
were done by a sharp object or needle with a dye ink, which was put into the top
layer of the skin. Around
2800 B.C. to 2600 B.C. the time of the great pyramids of Gizeh were being built
the Egyptians were speaking with Crete, Greece, Persia, and Arabia.
By 2000 B.C. the art had been spread across Southern Asia as far as
China. The Ainu people a migrant
race from Western Asia had already known of tattooing when they had left for
Japan. The Shans acquired it in
China and brought it to the Burmese, who later were to evolve it a most
elaborate technique of tattooing, making it until present day as a part of there
belief in religion and magic.
Of all the
styles to evolve from tattooing the Japanese surpassed everyone else by there
beauty in designs and the colors which were used also the way of the shading and
light which made the tattoos almost three dimensional.
Around 1100 B.C. onwards tattooing migrated southwards from Japan.
It traveled to Formosa, the Philippines, Borneo, and the Pacific Islands.
The Polynesians brought it into a widespread migration about 450 B.C.
this lasted until the Christian era. They
occupied many of the Pacific Islands until reaching New Zealand.
The Polynesians were responsible for the widest distribution of
tattooing; starting in New Zealand with a new style called Moko.
This consists of many designs and patterns, which are all, associated
with religion and taboo beliefs. Moko
which are still around today with the Maoris and the people of some of the
Pacific Islands they are administered in accordance with strict regulations and
ceremonies. They mean where you
come from your ranking in the tribe and who you are.
The arrival
of tattooing in South America is still a puzzle to science.
The Incas, Aztecs, and the Mayas all had tattoos they were tattooed for
religious rituals. Some scientists
think that Polynesians brought tattooing to South America and America. Then some also think it might have been the Siberian
Chukchee who learned it from the Ainu and brought it by crossing from Asia to
Alaska and that spread tattooing from there.
Very early the cult of tattooing also traveled north from Egypt.
The Iberians who proceeded the Celts in the British Isles were very
supportive towards marking their bodies. The
Ghauls and other Teutonic people also practiced it same with the Picts from
Scotland. Greeks used it for their spies, while the Romans used it for
their slaves and criminals. The
Danes, Norsemen, and Saxons brought more cultured and artistic tattoos to
Britain. They were proud of their
tattoos; they were of family crest and tribal symbols.
This is still very big in Scotland where the upper class still tattoo
themselves with such markings.
In 787 Pope
Hadrian 1 banned all tattooing in the Christian world.
Other Popes called upon this ban a few times between the years of
1200-1600 A.D. There is no mention of tattoos in any Monastic chronicles
during the middle ages and also because of Rome soldiers of many of the wars,
which ravaged Europe in this time, remained untattooed.
It survived in England till 1066 when the
Normans invaded; the Normans scorned tattooing after they had settled under King
Rollo in Normandy. Like all
Anglo-Saxon kings before him, King Harold was heavily tattooed when he was
killed in the battle of Hastings he was only identified by the name “Edith”
which was tattooed on his chest. After
Normans invaded tattooing was not heard of in the British Isles for many
centuries.
Not until
Columbus, and later Cortez and Pizzaro brought home tattooed prisoners from the
Americas. Europe did not know of
the heights it had achieved both in secretive Japan and America.
In the 17-18th centuries the church brought tattoos back in
the Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox denominations. Today in the Coptic Church many priest are still tattooed on
their forearms and chest with religious tattoos. This has been traditional for over two centuries with the
Serbians, Bulgarians, and Catholic Eurasians.
The word tattoo means to strike or tap is
Latin based. The word tattoo is a word from an Englishman called Sir James
Turner; he was a military historian and used the word to denote the beating of
military drums. The word before
that was tattaw and this was from the Polynesian people.
Also another Englishman is credited to bringing the first person with a
full body tattoo to modern Europe. William
Dapier, who was a great sailor, explorer and pirate. He was also one of the first Europeans to land on Australia
he brought to London a tattooed prince called Prince Giolo.
The prince became very big in Europe and was put out to the public to
look at.
America has
claim to the first professional tattoo artist his name was Martin Hildebrandt,
he came from Germany to Boston in 1846 he then set up and started tattooing.
Between the years of 1861-1865 he crossed enemy lines of both armies and
tattooed the soldiers of both confederate and the rebel troops.
In the mid 19th century there were
already professional artist in France, Algiers, the Holy Land, Italy and
Hamburg. The first British artist
was in 1870 his name was David Purdy.
The two most well known artist of that time in England were Sutherland
MacDonald they were both artist who brought the two forms together to make
tattooing a art form this was in the 1890’s.
King
Edward VII brought tattooing to England after getting his first tattooing in the
Holy Land in 1862. This then
made all the other Nobles get tattoos also.
The Holy Land had many artist which would tattoo all the people that came
there to remind them of the pilgrimages to there.
MUMMIES:
In
October of 1991 a five thousand year old tattooed man was found in the mountains
between Austria and Italy. He is the oldest mummy to be found fully preserved
with tattoos on him. He is also the
best-preserved mummy form the Bronze Age.
His full body was intact and skin was also perfect.
All of the Egyptian mummies found that had tattoos were female.
This does not mean that men were also not tattooed.
In Libya mummies of both male and females have been found with tattoos.
Males mostly had either sun tattoos or warrior tattoos on them.
American mummies have been discovered in Peru the Incas had work
describing their warriors and religious beliefs.
There were also some mummies found in some mountains between China and
Russia. These were of the Pazyryk
tombs. These were a formidable Iron
Age horsemen and warriors who lived in the Eastern European Western Asian
steppes during 600-200 B.C., there is not much written documentation about them.
A Russian Anthropologist found the Pazyryk tombs they were almost in a
near perfect state of preservation when found.
The cave contained skeletons and intact bodies of horses and embalmed
humans, plus treasures, clothing’s, rugs, a carriage, musical instruments,
amulets, tools, and hash pipes. The
major discovery was that there was a chief who was around fifty years of age and
he was heavily tattooed with pictures of animals all over his body.
Then in 1993 another Pazyryk mummy was found this time of a female she
was also heavily tattooed her mummy was found in Siberia.
The first definition of tattoo in technique was in 600 A.D. this was by a
Roman physician named Aetius he also tells how get rid of them also.
The process of getting rid of a tattoo even today is very easy and can be
done with household products. But
this is also a trade secret of most tattoo artist. Not truly known to the public
but within three days you can get rid of any tattoo just by using four
ingredients and end of a fork to rub in it is not a dangerous or painful thing
to do. The Romans and Greeks
used tattooing mostly to mark the criminals, slaves, and mercenary soldiers.
The style
of Polynesian tattooing is some of the nicest and symmetric art.
It was very elaborate and geometrical in design.
Its beauty and complexity made the Polynesians tattooing a most
formidable art. The pictures
used for the tattooing are found in all their forms of living.
Their pottery, canoes, clothing, and everything used in their daily lives
all of these things enjoyed there decorations.
They used a chisel-shaped piece of bone measuring 2 to 4 centimeters in
length and filed sharp on one end to look like a comb.
This was attached to a long stick then put into a black pigment, which
was made of soot and water, and then it was used by striking a mallet against
the body. This is still the
way it is mainly done in the islands today but now only a few artist have
learned to use modern day tattoo guns.
From Fiji
two female tattooist traveled to Samoa and Tonga.
In Tonga only the warriors were tattooed from the waist down.
Samoa also from the waist down, but the women here were only allowed to
have only small tattoos. Then
from Samoa and Tonga they traveled to the Marquesas. Here they then covered their entire bodies with tattoos
this was even more elaborate then the other islands.
Then into the later years after the Europeans had started to colonize the
islands tattooing became much less until modern day were it is finally coming
back bigger and better than ever.
GIOLO
In
1691 a Polynesian slave named Prince Giolo was brought to London to be put on
exhibition to make a Mr. William Drapier some money. Prince Giolo was to be paid and then sent back home to the
Philippines after he went around all of England. Giolo was a tattooed native who then caught the eye of
London’s nobles making him a celebrity and not just a freak. Giolo was invited to parties with the queen and all the upper
classmen of Europe he became on overnight sensation. Prince Giolo died of small pox not that long after he
came to England
Sir Joseph Banks was the youngest member of the Royal Society.
He is best known for his travels with a Captain Cook in which he went to
Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, and many other islands.
He went to write about the people, plants, animal life, and everything
else he would find on his journeys. During
his travels he also studied tattooing intensely in all of the lands he also made
the first Tahitian-English dictionary.
He wrote about the Maori in New Zealand, whose Moko tattoos are now
legendary and still used today in popular demand in the world of tattooing.
Sir Joseph Banks also lived in New Zealand and became very accustomed to
there religion he married even one of the chiefs daughters.
Today all of his notes and pictures describing the tattoos and everything
else he had seen are on display at the National History Museum in England.
The
Marquesas had some of the most beautiful designs.
They were mostly lost after the French taking them over in the late
1800’s.
The French banned tattooing from the natives and also over 95% of the
Marquesas population were killed by disease, which the French had brought, with
them.
Only a few people have been able to record the arts of the Marquesas and
now only today are they becoming tattooed again after over one hundred years of
not being able to show there true love of tattooing.
While the French had the ban in effect only a few were able to keep the
knowledge of tattooing alive in a very secretive manner.
Borneo is one of the few places in the world were tattooing has never
changed it is done the same way today as it was done a few thousand years ago.
Borneo is also the third largest island in the world.
Borneo was not ever really hurt by outsiders like all the other islands
and this was because of its enormous size also because the natives of the island
are all cannibals and headhunters. When
the British took over the island they stopped the tribal feuds and not until the
1940’s did they allow them to take heads again.
This was because of the Japanese coming to the island the British told
the natives that they would allow them to take heads as long as they were of the
Japanese. So the natives went back
to their old traditions and did so again taking the prizes of heads once more.
Since 1950 there have been no occurrences of head hunting but it is still
believed to be around today. Borneo
was made of different tribes each tribe has its own style of tattooing.
Dayak the hand symbol was a
status of life also it helped them after death to guide them across the river of
death. Few Dayak women are
tattooed, yet many of the men are. The
tattoos are bold abstract and of their ancestors these are done only on the
shoulders and the arms. Kayans they were into both tattooing and body piercing.
Ears were stretched and other parts of the body were also pierced.
Only women were to tattoo there was no men tattoo artist. There was no significance to their designs they just
drew up whatever they wanted to put on to their bodies. If a man was to take a head then his hands were to be
tattooed. The more that he
would kill the more tattoos he would get, thigh tattoos were also only for
headhunters. Kayan braves get there
left thumbs tattooed and the wrist, which are called Lukut.
Men get their wrist tattooed whenever they become sick this is to keep
his soul together. The dog is also big among the men in the tribe.
The women are very heavily tattooed over a four-year period.
This usually starts when they turn ten years of age.
This is when they get their hands, forearms, feet, thighs, and legs
tattooed. She must be
tattooed before getting pregnant. It
is also not allowed to be tattooed after having a child.
Also when the first blood is drawn in tattooing it is custom to give the
artist a gift.
Tattooing in Samoa is basically all done in blue and all over the thighs
and legs. When you look at their tattoos it will look as if they
are wearing blue tights. They
are a nice and quiet people plus also one of the first to change over to
Christianity they did this because they believed it would save them from the
sickness. Tattooing in Samoa
has always been legal and always been a strong part of their lives.
The only people that are not tattooed in Samoa are the native pastors.
The men in Samoa were tattooed from the waist down completely if you were
not fully tattooed then a man could never have a woman.
Until this treatment is done a man no matter how old will always be
considered a boy to the rest of the people.
The Maoris were tattooed for power to show their rankings and also who
they were their tattoos are called “Moko’s”.
They are facial and full body tattoos very elaborate and very
extinguishing. Very few females have ever tattooed there faces
yet there have been a few seen in the past this was to reasons of there
religions and also because only a warrior was allowed to do it.
The Maori were and are a very strong and powerful warrior race also
extremely prideful. Today
they still practice many of their old traditions but some of them have been
lost. The Maori were also
headhunters, they would take the heads of their slain victims and sell them to
Australia they were sold only if they were tattooed and for each tattooed head
they would sell they would get one musket.
This became a problem because then all of a sudden they were killing
themselves off left and right to get more guns this last for a few years.
The Maoris tattoos were so different from any other race, their artistic
designs were so arranged that the skin of the face was often completely covered
up to the corners of the eyes, and even over the eyelids; and the stains,
through tending to diminish in brilliancy, were indelible. Their faces were a true signature.
Mostly all of their tattoos were done in a black and blue coloring
everyone but the slaves were tattooed. The
only time the slaves were allowed to get tattooed was when the masters would
allow them to. Moko was a sign of distinction it told you who the
chief was from the nobleman to who the slaves were everyone’s Moko’s were
done specifically to show the rest of the people who they were.
In Japan there have been tombs found with tattooed people dating back to
5000 BC or older these are the oldest tattooed people ever found.
Also within these tombs have been found figurines which also have
markings of tattoos on them. These
figurines served as stand-ins for living individuals who symbolically
accompanied the dead on their journey into the unknown, and it is believed that
the tattoo marks had religious or magical significance.
By the 7th century the Japanese
had adopted most of the Chinese culture so tattooing is now not accepted.
Tattooing was now reserved for only criminals and outcasts.
By the 17th century this stopped because tattooing was
becoming big again so they stopped the ban.
This is when the criminals started to also tattoo bigger parts of there
bodies and now is when tattooing is to become a large part of the organized
crime families or Yakuza.
In religion priest got tattoos for their religious vows towards Buddha.
In the 18th century Edo which is Tokyo, the tattooing here
became more well known for there artist drawing pictures of different items like
signs, fabrics, and other forms of decorative arts.
Woodprints were also drawn up with tattoo designs on them.
Japan still had the ban in effect but did nothing towards it, all it did
was tattooing went underground and then became bigger.
This is when the Yakuza took over the
tattooing business in Japan this is when they started to get full body suit
tattoos. A body suit is a tattoo,
which covers the full body except the hands, wrists, neck, face, and feet ever
being done. They were
to be tattooed to prove their loyalties because tattoos were painful and if they
were to get them then it meant they were loyal to them.
It meant that they had courage.
The Japanese tattoos are considered some of the most beautiful pieces of
art in the world with their tigers, dragons, creatures, samurai, flowers, and
many other designs. They are
all very detailed and each tattoo has a story behind it.
They use bold colors and dark black outlines and shadings.
By 1850 the Tokugawa Shoguns opened the ports to trade and then tattooing
gained a new level in their history. Yokohama's port then received artist from all over
Japan now all the foreign sailors started to get tattooed there. Also a great deal of European dignitaries were also to
be tattooed there now. Not
until lately in the last thirty years did Japanese people start to get tattooed
again and only in the last ten have they started to get tattooed in public
again. In the last one
hundred years Japanese artist have made there names known to the world of
tattooing as having some of the most beautiful and incredible works to date.
NORTH AMERICA
The
American Indians- most of the Indian tribes had tattoos, they used a cutting
then rubbed a black powder to fill in the cut this then made the tattoo.
It was also done with needles, sharpened awls or thorns.
They would trace the design into the skin, then while they were fresh
they would put a charcoal or a black powder into it this would mix with the
blood and It would penetrate the wounds it is then in the skin.
Those who die from getting the tattoo work done would be considered
Martyrs. Some pieces were of
religious thoughts and beliefs. If
a man died and did not have a tattoo his spirit could not rest and it would then
wonder the world forever a restless soul?
The tattoos were given to the boys when they became men; it is a symbolic
rite of passage. Warriors had
tattoos to show their standings in their tribes.
Some also showed the accomplishments in their tattoos. All tattoos dealt
in belief and strength.
Haida
tattoos-
Almost all-Indian woman had tattoos on either
their hands, arms, or faces these were usually of dots or lines.
Each tattoo meant something on the hands and arms it meant their family
names and what totem they belonged to also whatever the totem meant is what your
name was to. Also all totems showed the rankings of each of
the families within the tribe. Men
were mainly the tattoo artists in this tribe.
The Mayas had tattoos, which would cover their entire bodies.
These were to show their histories, gods, devils, religious beliefs, and
rankings. It also told you who they
were what they had accomplished in their lives and what they were in the
society. The more tattoos one
would have the braver the person would be considered plus the more you have the
more important you would be to.
When the Spanish came to South America in 1519 Cortez came and seeing
people tattooed terrified him. The
Spanish had never seen tattoos till then they thought that these tattoos well
any tattoos were considered satanic.
The first Spaniard to be tattooed was a man named Gonzalo Guerrero he was
one of twenty sailors who had survived a shipwreck.
The Mayas after two years they found him to be rather remarkable because
he was captured and lived for such a time as a slave.
He was soon to be made their military leader he was put in charge of
teaching them to fight in a better way. He
learned their language and became one of them then he tattooed his full body
after marrying the daughter of one of the chiefs.
He led the Mayas in war until 1535 when a Spanish war ship in a battle
killed him.
Because
the Pope in 787 had banned tattooing in Europe it was very scarcely known until
the 18th century. Sailors
coming into its ports with them introduced France to it.
It was mostly used only on criminals before then this was to use to
identify a criminal and what he had done.
The French were brought more into it by seeing it on all the English.
The English Royalty started to get them at first and this astonished the
French they thought that the English were stupid for doing this to there bodies
especially for upper class men to get tattoos. But then they thought if the upper class may get them
then why not everyone else. It
wasn’t until the 1980 that it became very big in France now today there are
over 100 shops in France and it is now fully accepted by its people.
In the 19th century tattooing became bigger in England more
than any other European country. It
became big here because of all the sailors getting tattooed.
Then by seeing this the upper class society gain an interest in it and
then they started to get tattooed also.
Then the Royalty started to get tattooed and then it was good for
everyone to be tattooed. Many
people went to the Holy Land or Japan to get their work done until in the late
1800’s an artist named
D.W.
Purdy came around he was England first tattoo artist. He is known for the first person to draw a stencil on to a
person and also for the first person to shave the person to give them the
tattoo. This is something
every tattoo artist does today to every person that gets a tattoo.
The subjects of tattooing in England included
portraits of sweethearts, the Tower Bridge, House of Parliament, the Imperial
Institute, and British Battleships. The
most well known artist of the 19th century were Tom Riley, Sutherland
MacDonald, and George Burchett. Tom Riley was the cousin of the American tattoo artist
Sam O’Reilly he was the inventor of the first electric tattoo gun.
He shared the design with his cousin making Tom very rich in Europe
because he was the only artist to have an electric tattoo gun compared to
everyone else who did it by hand. Sutherland
MacDonald was known for his shop, which he had started out in London with. He dressed himself up very nicely and hung around with
the more upper class society making himself more acceptable to everyone.
He was also the first tattoo artist to call himself a tattooist he said
“ist” sounds more like artist and “er” sounds more like plumber and he
was not a plumber but an artist. This meaning everyone else at the time called themselves
tattooer’s. He became known in
Europe as the MichaelAngelo of tattooing because of his incredible pieces of art
that he was putting out in to the world. He
also then became one of the richer artists in Europe of his time.
Burchett then came along and became more of a legend than the others.
He was the only artist to leave a record of his life and his works.
Burchett also had the largest clientele of any of the other artist ha at
one time had three other shops working with him with over thirty artists
tattooing for him. His Royal
Clientele included King Alfonso of Spain, King Frederick IX of Denmark, and King
George V of England. It was
because of him tattooing became larger around the world.
He had an incredible busy schedule until the day he died in 1953 at the
age of 81.
Martin
Hildebrandt was from Germany he came to America in 1846 he arrived in Boston.
He then opened the first tattoo shops in the world he then moved to New
York were he worked until the 1890’s. What
made Hildebrandt famous besides opening up the very first tattoo shop was also
that during the civil war he would cross enemy lines with escorts and tattoo
both sides of the army. In
the 1870’s O’Reilly came around also to NY and they both became major
rivals. Sam O’Reilly was the inventor of the first electric
tattoo gun this was a modified version of Edison’s electric pencil.
Before this came around artist would use a set of needles attached to a
wooden handle it was then dipped into a ink the poked into the skin two or three
times a second. This when done took a very long time with his electric
gun it took about 80 faster for him to do.
This invention was made in 1891.
After a little while O’Reilly then start to sell his guns through a
mail order which soon became huge everyone needed one to make there work go by
faster. He made a small
fortune within a few years. O’Reilly
was also known for his house calls he would travel to go see the upper class
people to tattooing them out of there own homes so they would not have to go to
his tattoo shop they also paid extra for his services. By 1900 every major city in the US had a tattoo shop in
it. His tattoo guns were
being sold everywhere Billboard Magazine and the Police Gazette carried ads for
the mail order for his tattoo supplies also newspapers all around the US wrote
about this new incredible fad working it self all over the US.
In
1908 O’Reilly dies falling off a ladder at his house in Brooklyn.
Now is when the artistry comes into tattooing one of the first artists to
draw patterns to be sold or flash as it is called today is Lew Alberts.
This made now tattooing a true art form because now all images were
becoming tattoos and not just religious or symbolic pictures.
The next big
artist is Charles Wagner he revolutionizes tattooing again through his artistic
attributes and abilities. He also studied under O’Reilly.
In the Spanish-American War the both of them had tattooed continuously on
the US Navy where over 80 percent of the sailors were tattooed.
When O’Reilly died Wagner took over his business he then also made a
more improved version of the electric tattoo gun which he then patented.
Most of his work was fixing up names and other indecent tattoos for the
Navy. He was also the first artist
to do cosmetic tattooing he did the lips, eyebrows, and cheeks. Another thing, which he did, was he tattooed dogs and
horses so they could be identified if ever stolen or lost. Wagner was also known for his full body tattoos that he
would do on people also his clientele of circus performers. In 1953 he died at the age of 78 all of his stuff in
his place was destroyed by his landlord.
Today there are only a few pieces of his things floating around through
private collectors.
Tattooed people have always been thought of freaks so in the last 130
years circuses have used heavily tattooed people in their sideshows.
This was to boost the attendance at the shows.
In the last 10 years there are only a few sideshows left one being the
Coney Island sideshow? The Coney
Island sideshow tattoo man just died two years ago of diabetes his name was
Michael Wilson and he was known for doing all the Television talk shows as the
tattoo man. Then other being the
Jim Rose Sideshow this is a show of about 10 performers, which travel around the
world and show off their sideshow events to everyone. Sideshows were made to bring people around
to look at the oddities of life such as the tattooman/woman, the bearded lady,
and the monkey man/woman, the alligator boy and the fat man/woman. These all fascinated people and they paid to see such
people so the sideshow became popular and these so called freaks all had places
to go to now.
As soon as the 60’ s-70 came around tattoos were now being only
associated with the bikers and sailors.
In the late 70’s a new ink was made this new ink was more brighter and
last longer than the old Indian inks. In
1976 the first tattoo convention was held in Houston it was a major success.
In 1978 society’s started to form in all major cities in the US the NY
Tattoo Society is the largest and most famous of all the tattoo society’s in
the world today. Now
today there are faster guns and even more advanced equipment being used. Now also there are different size needles used for the
guns anything from single to fifteen point needles. Also another thing is that now there is also another
machine used to do the shading and coloring unlike before one did both.
The big names of today are Cliff Raven, Lyle Tuttle, Jack Rudy, Paul
Booth, Shotsie bag o donuts, Myke Maldonado, Gil Montie, Zeke Owens, Spider Web,
and many others. Most of the famous tattoo artists are from the NY area.
The East Coast has always had more famous artists than the West Coast.
In 1979 the first tattoo magazine was made in San Francisco by Lyle
Tuttle there are now over 150 magazines for tattooing around the world.
With over 30 just in the US. It
was MTV that made tattoos bug again in the 1980’s it brought it back into the
mainstream. On MTV you had all the musician’s showing off their tattoos
it was the music that brought tattooing to where it is today.
Today businessmen and lawyers and upper class people are once more
getting tattooed and tattooing is now once again an art.
Also now today there are over 15 museums around the world, which are all
dedicated to tattooing and body arts.
There are two in NYC only one is open to the public the other is opened
to the tattoo world only. The
rest are located in San Francisco, Hollywood, London, Germany, New Zealand,
Amsterdam, Canada and Japan.
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