Sailor Desmond's Tattooing Machine, Ink Bottles, and Flash
Entry/Object ID
1968.149.001
Description
A hinged wooden box, with handles at both ends, and a shallow lid and the title "Sailor DESMOND's Tatoo Parlor" painted on the inside. It contains a tattooing machine, bottled inks and various other tattooing implements. Dated around 1915. Tracing paper designs and templates have been placed in an archival box that accompanies the machine.
Collection
Decorative Arts Collection
Made/Created
Date made
1915
Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
Machine, Tattoo
Nomenclature Sub-Class
Beauty Supplies
Nomenclature Class
Toilet Articles
Nomenclature Category
Category 03: Personal Objects
Material
Wood
Interpretative Labels
Label
The practice of mariners tattooing themselves seems to have started in the mid-eighteenth century when contact between European sailors and Pacific islanders became more common.
