Quando si parla di epoca vittoriana, la mente corre ad immagini di persone paludate in lunghi abiti che coprono interamente il corpo. Tuttavia ci sono alcuni aspetti poco conosciuti di quel periodo che appaiono quasi sorprendenti, come ad esempio l’amore per tatuaggi grandi ed elaborati, che coprono quasi interamente il petto, le braccia o la schiena. Molte fotografie testimoniano il lavoro di colui che viene considerato uno dei primi artisti del tatuaggio. Il suo nome era Sutherland Macdonald. Dopo il primo viaggio nell’Oceano Pacifico dell’esploratore britannico James Cook (1728-1779), durante il quale i membri del suo equipaggio conobbero la tradizionale arte di decorarsi il corpo, la moda dei tatuaggi cominciò gradatamente a diffondersi anche nella società britannica, diventando sempre più popolare nel corso degli anni. Pare che Macdonald abbia iniziato a realizzare i suoi primi tatuaggi nel 1880, mentre prestava servizio nell’esercito britannico. Già esperto di pittura, l’artista si trovò a proprio agio con gli aghi tanto quanto lo era con i pennelli. Dopo aver lasciato l’esercito si dedicò a questa attività, anche se in realtà in Inghilterra non esisteva una categoria professionale che comprendesse l’arte del tatuaggio, tanto che ne fu creata una apposita, quella del tattooist (tatuatore), una crasi tra le parole tatuaggio e artista, nella lingua inglese. Macdonald fu dunque il primo tatuatore professionista: nel 1889 aprì un negozio che per quattro anni rimase l’unico punto di riferimento per gli appassionati del genere. Secondo Matt Lodder, docente dell’Università dell’Essex, “non ci sono prove di un altro studio professionale in Gran Bretagna, al momento, che lavorasse con clienti paganti”. All'inizio MacDonald lavorava con utensili manuali, ma dal 1894 utilizzò un macchinario elettrico da lui stesso inventato e brevettato, anche se “per le ombreggiature e i lavori difficili usava ancora strumenti giapponesi dai manici d’avorio”, come scrisse un giornalista dell’epoca. Il negozio londinese di Macdonald si trovava al 76 di Jermyn Street, dove riceveva nobili, aristocratici e celebrità dell’epoca: tra i suoi clienti ci furono alcuni dei figli della regina Vittoria, così come i re di Norvegia e Danimarca. I tatuaggi divennero sempre più popolari tra l’élite europea, dopo che il re inglese Edoardo VII, e suo figlio, tornarono da Gerusalemme e dal Giappone con il corpo dipinto. Il contributo di Macdonald all’arte del tatuaggio va ben oltre la sua fama: oltre al brevetto della macchina da lui inventata, pare che sia stato il primo ad usare il colore verde e blu. Pioniere di questa straordinaria forma d’arte, e tatuatore storico, Macdonald ha il merito di aver dato vita ad una nuova professione, il cui sviluppo, forse, nemmeno lui poteva prevedere.

Sweet! These iconic candies are just perfect for the nostalgia factor alone.

About Set of three prints from the 22 plate collection, "Ballet Und Pantomime" by Walter Schnackenberg. We acquired these from an estate, and the seller could not provide provenance. Accordingly, we cannot vouch for the authenticity of the signatures, as the plates from this portfolio were originally unsigned. Priced commensurately. Framed art measures 13" x 17" x 1.25".

Lanie Lane

Reference archive that never sleeps

Image taken from: Title: "Songs for Little People [With illustrations by H. Stratton.]" Author(s): Stratton, Helen [person] ; Gale, Norman Rowland [person] British Library shelfmark: "Digital Store 011652.g.53" Page: 71 (scanned page number - not necessarily the actual page number in the publication) Place of publication: London (England) Date of publication: 1896 Publisher: Constable Type of resource: Monograph Language(s): English Physical description: viii, 110 pages (8°) Explore this item in the British Library’s catalogue: 001352199 (physical copy) and 014811359 (digitised copy) (numbers are British Library identifiers) Other links related to this image: - View this image as a scanned publication on the British Library’s online viewer (you can download the image, selected pages or the whole book) - Order a higher quality scanned version of this image from the British Library Other links related to this publication: - View all the illustrations found in this publication - View all the illustrations in publications from the same year (1896) - Download the Optical Character Recognised (OCR) derived text for this publication as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) - Explore and experiment with the British Library’s digital collections The British Library community is able to flourish online thanks to freely available resources such as this. You can help support our mission to continue making our collection accessible to everyone, for research, inspiration and enjoyment, by donating on the British Library supporter webpage here. Thank you for supporting the British Library.

Bauhaus logo created in 1922 by Oskar Schlemmer

Image taken from: Title: "The Earth and its Inhabitants. The European section of the Universal Geography by E. Reclus. Edited by E. G. Ravenstein. Illustrated by ... engravings and maps" Author(s): Reclus, Elisée, 1830-1905 [person] ; Ravenstein, Ernst Georg, 1834-1913 [person] British Library shelfmark: "Digital Store 10005.ff" Page: 213 (scanned page number - not necessarily the actual page number in the publication) Place of publication: London (England) Date of publication: 1878 Type of resource: Monograph Language(s): English Physical description: 19 volumes (8°) Explore this item in the British Library’s catalogue: 003055004 (physical copy) and 014823680 (digitised copy) (numbers are British Library identifiers) Other links related to this image: - View this image as a scanned publication on the British Library’s online viewer (you can download the image, selected pages or the whole book) - Order a higher quality scanned version of this image from the British Library Other links related to this publication: - View all the illustrations found in this publication - View all the illustrations in publications from the same year (1878) - Download the Optical Character Recognised (OCR) derived text for this publication as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) - Explore and experiment with the British Library’s digital collections The British Library community is able to flourish online thanks to freely available resources such as this. You can help support our mission to continue making our collection accessible to everyone, for research, inspiration and enjoyment, by donating on the British Library supporter webpage here. Thank you for supporting the British Library.

The ouroboros is a symbol showing a serpent eating its own tail, and representing eternal cycles. It isn’t really a mythical cre...

Real Name: Horace RidlerTime Period: Late 1800s to mid-1900sAmazing Fact: Rumored to have attended Oxford University and achieved the rank of major in the First World War, Ridler decided to completely reinvent himself by covering his body in broad, zebra-like stripes that took over 500 sittings in the tattoo chair just so he could become a show attraction. He later used his popularity to sell war bonds.

Faites plaisir à vos proches !

We’ve been all over this metallic tattoo trend ever since we tried Mr. Kate’s glistening gold beauty marks. But holy moly, Kelly Framel of The Glamourai has taken temporary tattoos to a whole new level, styling Flash Tattoos…

An eccentric garden of sculptures crafted in India decorate an Irish green space dedicated to Alan Turing.

Traditional #Inuit tattoos, by region / via @ITK_CanadaInuit / Washington Ben Jr. on FB (not sure of actual source.)

Those who live in dream are superior beings; those who live in reality are unhappy slaves. Alberto Martini, 1940 Alberto Giacomo Spiridione Martini (1876-1954) was one of the most extraordinary…

623 p. : 21 cm

Get romantic dried flower tattoos without any pain or commitment!

Gerhard Munthe, Vignett. (1899)

Maybe it's because it's Friday and I've been nursing a cold all week long, or maybe it's because it's Halloween and I'm feeling particularly irreverent, but I figure that