"It was in 1691 that tattooing reemerged in Western Europe in "civilized" society. Sailor and explorer William Dampier brought the heavily tattooed Prince Giolo to London from the South Seas. Known as the Painted Prince, he was placed on exhibit and became the rage of London, a surefire, moneymaking attraction. His Polynesian tattoos covered his body, legs, and arms in the precursor to today's tribal tattoos. It had been just about six centuries since anyone in London had seen, let alone touched a tattoo. And it would be another hundred years before tattooing would truly make a mark on Western society.

In the late 1700s Captain Cook, another sailor and explorer, but much better known, made several trips to the South Pacific. London society reveled in his stories and embraced the art and artifacts he brought back with him. On his second journey, one of his artifacts was Omai, a heavily tattooed Polynesian male who created such a sensation in London among the upper classes that soon they were demanding small, discreetly placed tattoos of their own. The Great Omnai was seen as a noble savage, and though his tour was clearly a more refined version of it, he was the first "sideshow" exhibit" (Krakow, 1994).

In early America tattoo was still in the elitist stage. Although we see tattoo most often displayed on Native Americans, in this time period, it is well known that tattoo was also practiced by the royalty. The royalty however were mainly the elite's of European society moving to America for newfound fortunes.

Copyright ©1998 William Craig Taylor

Elite's History................................................Military History

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