|
|
Tattooing in Europe
England
During the nineteenth century tattooing flourished in England as nowhere else in Europe. This was due in a large part to the tradition of tattooing in the British Navy, which began with the first voyage of Captain Cook in 1769. During the decades which followed many British seamen returned home bearing souvenirs of their travels in the form of exotic tattoos. Sailors learned the art, and by the middle of the 18th century most British ports had at least one professional tattoo artist in residence.
Tattooing gained royal sanction in l862 when the Prince of Wales visited the Holy Land and had the Jerusalem Cross tattooed on his arm. In later life, as King Edward VII, he acquired a number of additional tattoos. When his sons, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of York (later King George V) visited Japan in 1882, Edward VII instructed their tutor to take them to the studio of celebrated master Hori Chiyo, who tattooed dragons on their arms. On the way home the two Dukes visited Jerusalem and were tattooed by the same artist who had tattooed their father 20 years before.
Following the example of the dukes, many wealthy Britons and naval officers acquired tattoos from Japanese masters. By 1890 tattooing had become so popular among British aristocrats that an American writer complained: "society men in England were the victims of circumstance when the Prince of Wales had his body tattooed. Like a flock of sheep driven by their master they had to follow suit."
The first British professional known to us by name was D.W. Purdy, who established a shop in North London around 1870. The only existing record of Purdy's work is a booklet published toward the end of his career. It bears the practical title Tattooing: how to tattoo, what to use, etc. (1896-Medical tracts-London). Purdy apparently drew all his designs freehand without using stencils, for he admonished the beginner:
Before you commence to tattoo any individual you must be able to sketch well, as it is a very difficult matter to sketch on a person's arm or on any other part of the body; you will have a good deal of rubbing out to do before you get the figure drawn correctly. Whatever part of the body you have to tattoo you must see that there are no large veins in the way, as they must be avoided ... Before you commence drawing out your figure you must see that hairs are all shaved off or you will have some difficulty in trying to sketch with these in the way; shave them off with a razor and nothing else. You cannot draw the lines of the figure too fine as your needles are fine and you must have a fine line to work on."
France
Tattooing was widely practiced among seamen, laborers and convicts during the first part of the nineteenth century. Members of the middle and upper classes, however, thought it beneath their dignity, and it was never popular among the titled and the wealthy as it was in England.
This attitude was due in large part to the influence of the Catholic Church. In the fourth century AD Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, outlawed the facial tattooing of slaves and convicts on the grounds that it disfigured "that which was fashioned in God's image." In 787 Pop Hadrian the First prohibited tattooing on any part of the body because it was associated with superstition and paganism. The ban was upheld and reinforced by his successors.
The Church's prohibition of tattooing was responsible for the fact that it was but little practiced in Europe until it was reintroduced in the latter part of the eighteenth century by sailors who had been tattooed in the South Pacific.
Scattered reports of complications resulting from tattooing began to appear in the French medical literature during the early part of the nineteenth century. M. Rayer, the author of a work on dermatology which was published in 1835, reported several cases of severe infections caused by tattooing. In 1837 the first recorded instance of a death following tattooing appeared in a work by Parent-Duchatelet titled "De la prostitution dans la ville de Paris". Parent-Duchatelet wrote: "This operation, so simple in appearance, cost the life of an unfortunate young woman who attempted to disguise a name which she had awkwardly tattooed on her left arm. This attempt caused a serious infection which ultimately resulted in her death."
In 1853 a physician, M. Hutin, reported the first case in which syphilis was transmitted by tattooing. He wrote: "A soldier allowed himself to be tattooed by a man who was suffering from syphilis and who had chancres on his lips. The soldier was a virgin and perfectly healthy, and the tattooer only punctured his arm a few times. The Chinese ink used by the tattooer had dried up in a shell and several times the tattooer moistened his needles by spitting on them and diluted the ink with his saliva. In this way he inoculated the soldier with syphilis. This resulted in serious complications and, according to the patient, almost necessitated the amputation of his arm."
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
