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Pharaoh's
Horses
The
origin of tattoo
designs is a subject
that has always
fascinated me.
Where do these
designs come from
and how do they
work their way
into the tattoo
business? Any working
tattooist will
tell you stories
about their customers
who bring in their
own designs to
have tattooed on
their bodies. To
me, this is the
lifeblood of our
business. I mean
how many Taz's
can you do and
still have them
hold your interest?
By now you have read the well-researched
history of "Pharaoh's Horses" compiled
by Randy Tyree and Palmer Utterback.
As some of you may already know,
this image was a back and chest
piece staple in the tattoo business
from the turn of the twentieth
century up to the 1950s. The earliest
example of Pharaoh's Horses that
we have in the Archive is from
the Gus Wagner (1872-1941) collection.
This design is seen in reverse
of the original and the horse heads
are framed with leaves and flowers.
By the 1920s, Pharaoh's Horses
were showing up in tattoo supply
catalogs along with other classics
designs like the Rock of Ages and
The Last Supper. Images such as
these came to tattooing from the
larger religious art world. A customer
may have brought these images into
the tattoo shop, or a tattooist
may have seen them and drew them
up as tattoo designs. Much like
the chicken and the egg, it's hard
to say which came first!
But the Pharaoh's Horses design
stuck and the list of tattooist
and attraction who wore this design
reads like a who's who of American
tattooing. Following is but a short
list of such greats: Max Bohm,
Tommy Tomasulli, Jay Lester, Andy
O' Henry, Capt. Don Leslie, Sailor
Carl, Bertie, Captain Elvy and
none other than the famed New York
City tattooist, Charlie Wagner,
who wore this design on his chest.
Percy Waters (1888-1952) probably
did more to spread the Pharaoh's
Horses design than any single person
in the tattoo world. He sold the
design in his supply catalog, and
photos of his tattooed version
of the image abound. A photograph
of this image is featured above.
Waters liked this image so well
that he used it on the cover of
his How-to-Tattoo booklet. George
Fosdick (1885-1951) also had a
fondness for the Pharaoh's Horses
design and several photos and drawings
in the Archive's collection shows
his renderings of this image. To
show that good ideas never die
I have had the privilege of working
on a back piece version of this
design.
Tattoo Archive © 2000
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