Lotteva Wagner Davis

Lotteva Wagner Davis was an American original—a tattooist and western artist in the early to mid-20th century. Following in the footsteps of her parents, Gus and Maud Wagner—tattoo artists and carnival performers—Lotteva was raised in the carnival and started hand tattooing in 1919, when she was just nine years old. She was one of few tattooists to have completely bare skin; her mother forbade her father to tattoo her, relenting only after his death, but Lotteva didn’t want to be tattooed by any