Tattoo history
Tattoo historySociety has developed many different ways to identify who a person is or where they may come from. Some distinctions are by a skin color, or by the way a person speaks. Many years ago and even to this day tattoos have been distinguishing who a person is. Tattoos have been put onto both sexes to decorate, enhance, and modify the skin given to us at birth. One site said that "tattoos are self-motivated expressions of personal freedom and uniqueness" (web page). Each tribe uses tattoos for different reasons, some use them as a marking of status, where a person fits in their culture. Dayak tribes believed that tattoos symbolized an important function after death, this belief was also known in many American Indian tribes. The Chinese culture uses tattoos to distinguish a person who has been found guilty of a severe crime. In native North America tattooing was frequently associated with religious and magical practices. As tattooing became more popular it landed in England where the first royal family member became tattooed.
It is said that skin ornamentation is as ancient as Man himself. The oldest tattooed body known to date is that of Bronze Age man who died over 5000 years ago. He was found frozen intact in an Italian glazier. During examination he was found to have both arms, legs, and torso, covered with elaborate tattoos representing mythical creatures. Also reported at 15000 BC ice age rock carvings show tattooed figures, and 4200 BC Egyptian mummies wore tattoos.
The process of being tattooed as a man is much unlike that of a women. Each tribe completes the process in different and unusual ways. Kayans usually began the tattooing process during boyhood. If a man takes the head of an enemy he can have the backs of his hands and fingers covered with tattoos (Hose). Samoa tribes take several months to complete the tattooing process, it is a very strict ritual. The sequence of tattooing begins with the waist and progressing down to the knees, only working with the area the size of a hand each week. To a Soman man, this part of his life is very crucial, it is when he enters manhood. For the Ojibwa, tattoos were used for therapeutic reasons. They marked temples, forehead, and cheeks of those suffering from headaches and toothaches. In this tribe the ceremony was accompanied by songs and dances. Tattooing for the Apiaca Indian boys began at age 14 and consisted of a face tattoo. This meant a rectangle around the mouth, indicating that the boy could eat human flesh.
In many cases the women's tattoo process was made known to much extent. Kayan women are tattooed in complicated serial designs over the whole forearm, the backs of hands, and over the whole area of the thighs. This process that causes much pain and is a serious operation. To a Kayan girl this also has an elaborate ceremonial attached to this form of body ornamentation. The tattooing process can last as long as four years, beginning with her fingers and upper part of her feet at age ten. After about a year her forearms are completed and following that her thighs are partially tattooed, finishing them the next year. The goal of this process is to have her tattoo finished before she becomes pregnant, because it is considered immodest to be tattooed after she becomes a mother. Some of the possible complications with the tattooing process is the delay that can be caused. Delays are due to a severe illness because of other tattooing problems, or if a dead person is lying unburied in the house. This is considered a delay because, it said to be pemali to let blood during these occasions (web page). The tattoo of an Ao Naga woman takes place in the jungle where no men are present. They complete the process in four stages beginning with lines placed on her chin moving downward throughout the years.
The process of tattooing can be done in many different ways, and has changed greatly from time to time. First record of tattooing was done with a blackened stick in a fire then burnt onto human skin. For the Kayan tribe they used two or three prickers and an iron striker all kept in a wooden case. The striker is a short iron rod, half covered with a string lashing. The prickers are wooden rods with a short pointed head projecting at right angles; the head is attached to a lump of resin in which are embedded three or four short needles (web page). The pigment is made of a mixture of soot, water, and sugar cane juice. Before coloring on a persons body, they carve in high relief on blocks of wood which are then smeared with ink and pressed on the skin leaving an impression. To begin the process the tattooer stretches, with her feet, the skin of the part to be tattooed, and dips her pricker into the pigment. She follows the line of the impression driving the needle points into the skin. This operation is seemingly very painful and there is no antiseptic precautions ever taken. In the Soman culture the use of needles, sharpened awls, or thorns is needed. The artist does a great deal of rubbing out before any drawing is done on the body. Whatever the body part being tattooed is, it is very important to check for large veins and to shave off all hairs. The tattooer then pierces the skin and traces images onto the body. Ao Naga use an adze-like instrument to which a bunch of cane-thorns is attached. The black coloring matter is applied a second time after the blood has been washed off. The punctures may sometimes become infected which will lead to bad sores and some may occasionally lose a leg.
Many different symbols and designs have been made on human bodies throughout time. Celtic people wear symbols to show they are of Celtic descent. The most common Irish symbol is the three-leaved shamrock, and also the harp is very common. The Scottish symbol is the thistle, and the Welsh wear a marking of the red dragon. In the Dayak tribe the traditional tattoo designs resemble decorative motifs found in the art of Bali and Java. Men wear the bold abstract tattoos of their ancestors on their shoulders and arms, some of the younger men have commercial tattoos. Kayans have a design called lukut which is an antique bead that is placed on the wrist of any person. It is told that this design will prevent the souls departure in any future occasion. Dog figures are also very common with the Kayan art, and has been copied by many other tribes. This tribe also places a rosette or star design on their shoulders and on their breasts. The rosette is said to have come from the eye in the dog pattern. For the Kalinga tribe tattooing had a symbolic character, but some of the women would cover their necks and arms with intricate designs made from lines as a form of decoration. The Kanyak Nagas would cover the faces of warriors with an extensive pattern, giving them a fierce expression. Some Indian tribes ascribe protective qualities to tattoo marks, particularly if they represent symbols of family or guardian deities (Haimendorf 2800). In 1862 the Prince of Wales had the Jerusalem Cross tattooed on his arm, which led many other royal family members to become tattooed. Several artists in England tattooed designs of the Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, the Imperial Institute, and British battleships. In the 1900's images changed a little, in Brazil some artists were focusing on eagles, geisha girls, and the classic spiral dragons with bat winds and sharp elongated claws. These artists used thick, solid outlines, heavy shading, and solid application of contrasting colors.
As time has moved on, tattoos have also been moving through the land. During the 19th century one of the most prominent British tattoo artists was Tom Riley. After spending time in the army he established himself as a tattoo artist in London. His American cousin, Samuel O'Reilly, was a successful New York tattooer. O'Reilly invented and patented the first electric tattooing machine in 1890 and shared this invention with Riley. Both enjoyed a long and profitable career while traveling extensively and tattooing many continental aristocrats. Riley also gained much success and publicity from the over-all tattooing of an Indian water buffalo at the Paris Hippodrome in 1904, this project lasted for three weeks and was widely covered by the press. Macdonal was yet another tattoo artist who began in the army and attended a formal art school. He called himself a "tattooist" rather than "tattooer" on the grounds that "ist" sounded like "artist" whereas "er" sounded like "plumber" (web page). Macdonald was reviewed by many in the French press, and in 1900 L'illustration referred to him as "the Michelangelo of tattooing." George Burchett is considered the greatest of the early British tattoo artists, he began in 1900 when Riley and Macdonald were at the height of their fame. Burchett began tattooing his schoolmates at age eleven with soot and darning needles. At age 28 he opened his first studio in London and began a career that earned him a small fortune, and the title "King of Tattooist." He was the only British tattoo artist who left a written record of his life and work. His records were compiled and printed in 1958 as "Memoirs of a Tattooist." Tattoo Lucky buzzed ink into people's skin for more than 20 years in Brazil. During his time it is said that tattoo artists were like gypsies, traveling from one port to another. He worked for awhile on a port in Norway where a priest would run in daily and give sermons on why the Bible said tattooing was wrong and a sin. But Lucky made it very clear that he was not persuading the sailors from attending Sunday service, therefore the priest should not interfere with his business. While in Brazil his was titled the Grand Old Man of tattooing. After his death in 1983 he has kept a reputation of a very successful tattoo artist. The people of Brazil remember and are marked with designs of eagles, sharks, panthers, butterflies, dragons, and mermaids.
In 1999 Oxford University Press reported that Kant takes an affirmative stand against facial tattoos. He amalgamated both aesthetic and moral considerations into his objection to facial tattoos. Kant believes that facial tattoos will relate to the neoclassical ideal that allows facial tattoos to enhance human beauty. He also believes that the expressionist ideal of human beauty is consistent with the condition of moral respect, in that the ideal of human beauty is to be embody exclusively (Wicks).