George Burchett

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Business card around 1950

George Burchett (born August 23, 1872 in Brighton as George Burchett Davis, † April 3, 1953 ) was one of the most famous tattoo artists of the turn of the century; he was also referred to as the King of the Tattooists .

Life

George Burchett was the eldest of twelve children of the French journeyman polisher and picture frame maker George Burchett Davis (1849 / 50-1923) and his wife Lydia, b. Heath (1851/2), born. After being expelled from school at age 12 for tattooing his classmates, he joined the Royal Navy at age 13 and developed his tattooing skills while serving as deckhand on HMS Vincent. After retiring from the Navy, he returned to England. With a studio on Mile End Road and 72 Waterloo Road, London, Burchett became the first star tattoo artist of the wealthy upper class and the European nobles from 1900. His customers included King Alfonso XIII. of Spain and King Frederik IX. from Denmark. Although it has been alleged that he tattooed the "Sailor King" George V from the United Kingdom, there is no reliable evidence that this is actually the case. He also tattooed Horace Ridler ("The Great Omi"). On his worldwide travels he constantly designed new tattoos and integrated African, Japanese and Southeast Asian motifs into his work.

His apparent autobiography Memoirs of a Tattooist , edited by Peter Leighton (a pseudonym of the writer Edward Spiro / EH Cookridge), was published by the Oldbourne Book Company in 1958.

Trivia

A younger brother, Charles Davis, also worked as a tattoo artist, but did not become as well known as George Burchett-Davis.

Exhibitions

literature

  • Michelle D. Miranda: Forensic Analysis of Tattoos and Tattoo Inks. CRC Press 2015, ISBN 1-498-7364-32 .
  • Kathlyn Gay, Christine Whittington: Body Marks: Tattooing, Piercing, and Scarification. Twenty-First Century Books 2002, ISBN 0-761-3235-2X .
  • Margo De Mello : Encyclopedia of Body Adornment. ABC-CLIO 2007, ISBN 0-313-3369-54 , p. 105 ff.
  • Jon Reiter: King of Tattooists: The Life and Work of George Burchett. Solid State Publishing Company 2012, ISBN 0-578-1092-47 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chuck Eldridge: Eagles, Two Maidens and a Tiger artworldconfidential.org
  2. ↑ George Burchett - King of the Tattooists
  3. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  4. ↑ Burchett , in Tattoo Spirit magazine, May 27, 2014
  5. ^ Janey Levy: Tattoos in Modern Society. The Rosen Publishing Group Inc 2008, ISBN 1-435-8487-72 , p. 52.
  6. ↑ Hattie Gladwell: Stunning black and white photos show the studio of a 1950s tattoo artist metro.co.uk
  7. ↑ BBC News: World War One: 'King of tattoos' inked thousands of soldiers , from August 6, 2014.
  8. ↑ Barnaby Titchener: The Art of Mr Charles Burchett Davis Limited Edition Box Set.
  9. ↑ bristolmuseums.org.uk : British Tattoo Art Revealed
  10. ↑ Marcus Bunyan: Exhibition: 'Tattoo' at Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg artblart.com
personal data
SURNAME Burchett, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Davis, George Burchett
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British tattoo artist
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Brighton
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1953