Western Traditional Tattoos

Emerging from a ‘colourful’ history….... Tattooing in the Western world has a history that is not as poor in relation to the histories of Japan and China as you may initially think - although it is somewhat unfortunate that the records describing their existence were generally made by individuals either fascinated with them as a component of the ‘bizarre’ behaviour of barbarian tribes, or recounting stories of tattoos inflicted as punishments, earning religious prohibitions and being the trademark of the poor, the criminal and the generally disreputable. This, sadly, is in great contrast to the Asian, Middle Eastern and Polynesian histories, where tattoos carried important religious, social and status related meanings. Century upon century of such awful associations account for the still-wary attitudes of some towards the practice today, and it is still not unusual to hear people denigrate the practice of tattooing and the tattooed. Still, though, we have come incredibly far, and acceptance, respect and interest in ink has grown exponentially and continues to grow.