combination of tattoo and artist, was coined. Macdonald remained the only professional under the category for four years. “While tattooing was going on, there is no evidence of another professional studio in Britain at the time, working on paying customers,” explains Matt Lodder, a lecturer at the University of Essex.

Macdonald, who started off using hand tools and then graduated to an electric machine that he patented in 1894, had his share of celebrity and aristocratic clients. He's said to have tattooed several of Queen Victoria's sons, as well as the kings of Norway and Denmark. Tattoos were becoming increasingly popular with the European elite after Britain's King Edward VII and his son were tattooed in Jerusalem and Japan, respectively.

“For nearly forty years crowned heads and famous people climbedthe narrow staircase in Jermyn Street to visit Macdonald and to leave bearing some of the most wonderful ornaments ever placed on human skin,” wrote George Burchett in his 1953 book, Memoirs of a Tattooist. “A well-spoken, intelligent and gentle man, Sutherland Macdonald made friends of his customers, who treated him as an equal.”

And if that were not enough, Macdonald is also thought to have pioneered the use of blue and green in his work. All told, Macdonald is a historic tattooist who helped pioneer the art form, helping elevate it to a respected profession.

These images are part of the exhibition Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed, on view at the National Maritime Musem of Cornwall through January 7, 2018.

Sutherland Macdonald, who opened his own tattoo studio in 1894,