Tattoos
American woman with arms and chest covered with tattoos, 1907
American woman with arms and chest covered with tattoos, 1907
Tattooing spread among the upper classes all over
Europe in the 19th century, but particularly in Britain where it was
estimated in Harmsworth Magazine in 1898 that as many as one in five
members of the gentry were tattooed. mode stileThere, it was not uncommon for
members of the social elite to gather in the drawing rooms and libraries
of the great country estate homes after dinner and partially disrobe in
order to show off their tattoos. Aside from her consort Prince Albert,
there are persistent rumours that Queen Victoria had a small tattoo in
an undisclosed 'intimate' location; Denmark's King Frederick was filmed
showing his tattoos taken as a young sailor. Winston Churchill's mother,
Lady Randolph Churchill, had a tattoo of a snake around her wrist,
which she covered when the need arose with a specially crafted diamond
bracelet. Carrying on the family tradition, Winston Churchill had an
anchor tattooed on his forearm.