Michele Stueven
Legendary tattoo artist and author Jonathan Shaw is putting his personal archive of tattoo art and memorabilia on the auction block online, Thursday, April 9, through Potter & Potter Auctions.
Founder of New York City’s oldest tattoo shop, Fun City Tattoo, Shaw is widely recognized as an authority on tattoo history. His lifelong preservation of the medium’s material culture is chronicled in his 2017 memoir, Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist. Shaw’s client list includes Johnny Depp, The Cure, The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, Marilyn Manson, Orlando Bloom, Tupac Shakur, and Jim Jarmusch.
The collection includes more than 300 lots, including more than 200 flash sheets from masters like Bert Grimm and Cliff Raven, as well as rare items personally linked to Charles Bukowski, Depp, and R. Crumb.
The sale celebrates both the rich history of early-twentieth century tattooing and the life and legacy of the artist and underground cultural cult figure.
“As You Are I Was, As I am You Will Be” – Fourteen Designs by Bert Grimm (Courtesy Potter & Potter)
The auction features more than 200 tattoo flash sheets from the hands of old-school masters like Grimm and Raven, alongside rare and personally inscribed material from the lives and careers of Charles Bukowski, Johnny Depp, and R. Crumb.
Some auction highlights include a historic hand-painted sign for Seven Seas Tattoo Studio on the Pike pier in Long Beach and an in situ photograph showing 1960-1970s automobiles in frame.
“As You Are I Was, As I am You Will Be” – Fourteen Designs by Bert Grimm is a hand-painted tattoo flash sheet with hand colored borders by Grimm (born Edward Cecil Reardon, 1900-1985). Commonly referred to as “the grandfather of old school Tattooing,” designs like “Cool Stud” and “Nightmare” show the artist’s classic, sometimes cartoon-inspired designs.
Potter & Potter, founded in 2007, is a Chicago-based auction house specializing in paper Americana, vintage advertising, rare books, playing cards, gambling memorabilia, posters, fine prints, vintage toys, and magicians’ antiques and collectibles related to magic and magicians.
See more auction items in our gallery, courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions.
