Currently displayed in the parlor from May 1st to May 30th 2026.
Tattooing has been part of human history since we figured out how to put ink to skin. Though a well-practiced art around the world, tattoos were classified as barbaric in Western Europe and no longer fashionable when Christianity became the main religion of the Roman Empire. Tattooing came back to Western Europe through colonization. Famously, James Cook and his crew all got tattoos with the Polynesian word “tatau”, which referred to the tapping sound of the tattooing instrument.
Maud Wagner circa 1907, image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Wagner
Many women got inked as well! It was popular to tattoo lace on the upper torso, back, and arms, so women could wear sleeveless garments and still be presentable. This caused a problem when it came to police work, as tattoos were used to pick out gang members or criminals who had been to prison. Military men also used tattoos as identifying marks in the case of death.
Nora Hildebrandt c. 1880, image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattooed_lady
Many royals got tattoos. For example, King George and his brother, Prince Albert Victor, got inked in Japan when they were visiting as naval cadets in 1881. King George’s tattoo is reportedly a dragon. He also stopped to get the Jerusalem Cross in Jerusalem on his way back to England, as did his father, King Edward VII.
They weren’t the only ones. Other notable tattooed nobility were King Oscar of Sweden, Queen Olga of Greece, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, all of whom received tattoos in the mid-to-late 1800s.
Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovic (Tsar Nicholas II). He had a Japanese dragon on his right forearm. Image provided by Compass Rose Design: Jewelry for Bold Thinkers & Memory Keepers
King George V had a dragon tattoo design. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_V#/media/File:King_George_1923_LCCN2014715558_(cropped).jpg
This extensive list also included Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s mother, who had a tattoo of a snake that she hid with bracelets.
Other notable people with tattoos at this time included:
Rowland Hussey Macy (1822-1877): The founder of Macy’s department store chain got a red star tattoo on his forearm while working on a whaleship at age 15, which later inspired the store’s famous logo.
John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865): The famous actor and assassin of President Abraham Lincoln had his initials “J.W.B.” tattooed on his left hand.
Charles Longfellow (1844-1893): Son of the poet Henry Longfellow, he was famously heavily tattooed while living in Japan.
Lady Randolph Churchill with her tattoo of a snake on her left arm, hidden beneath several bracelets. Image from https://www.friendsofdalnavert.ca/blog/victoriantattoos
Image from https://www.cnn.com/style/article/tattoos-victorian-england-conversation