Lyle Tuttle tattooed on all seven continents and his collection is representative of his monumental career and travels which began in the mid 1940’s. His collection is revered as the largest and most prominent collection of Tattoo Art and artifacts in the world. In 1974 Lyle acquired the prestigious collection of early famed British tattooist George Burchett while traveling through Europe. His cover feature on Rolling Stone magazine on October 1st 1970 helped catapult him to international fame. Lyle Tuttle’s professional tattoo career spanned seven decades and began in San Francisco in 1948. His ultra famous 7th St. shop ran from 1960-’89 and was a hotspot for “The Summer of Love” generation. Lyle tattooed many stars including The Allman Brothers, Joan Baez, Jim Croce and famously, Janis Joplin. More than any other figure in Tattoo History, Lyle helped make the ancient practice socially acceptable in mainstream culture.

Lyle Tuttle’s Tattoo Art and artifact collection includes countless rare items dating back to 400 AD including Tattoo Art, tattoo machines, photography of early tattooed people and worldwide tattoo artist business cards. His collection documents not just popular worldwide tattoo culture, but social and multi-cultural history as well.