Jessie Knight (1904 – 1992) was the first prominent female

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing pro ...

artist in the UK.

Personal life

Jessie Knight was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton ...

, in 1904, one of eight children. Her family worked in

circuses A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicycl ...

and she was involved in sharp-shooting and riding acts. She was married aged 27, but this only lasted eight years. She died in

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards t ...

, in 1992.

Career as tattoo artist

Knight began as a tattoo artist in 1921 when she was 18, having learnt how to tattoo from her father. She worked in

, South Wales. She was later an apprentice with Charlie Bell in Kent. She then moved to her own tattoo shops in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dense ...

and subsequently

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the Engli ...

. Many of her clients were women. She returned to Barry in 1968 and continued working into the 1980s. Her style was to work freehand after drawing the design onto the body. In 1955 her tattoo of a

highland fling The Highland Fling is a solo Highland dance that gained popularity in the early 19th century. The word 'Fling' means literally a movement in dancing. In John Jamieson's 1808 ''Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language'', the Highland Fli ...

won second prize in the Champion Tattoo Artist of All England competition held in London.

Legacy

Her work was included in an exhibition at the

National Maritime Museum Cornwall The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The building was designed by architect M. J. Long, following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. The ...

, from March 2017 to January 2018, showing a history of British tattooing. Tatty Devine has made a brooch and a necklace using an original design of Jessie Knight. ''Skin Digging'', an exhibition of work by and owned by Jessie Knight from the collection of Neil Hopkin-Thomas was on display January 18 - February 18, 2018 at the Art Exchange gallery on the University of Essex campus in Colchester. Knight was one of the tattoo artists featured in an exhibition about the history of British tattooing at

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main facilit ...

in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Jessie 1904 births 1992 deaths Artists from London British tattoo artists 20th-century English women artists