Poster: "Coming with P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, Captain Costentenus the Greek Albanian"
1876 – 1877 (Date manufactured/created)
28 in H
X
22 in W
Measurement Notes: Item is framed with no mat, so measurement reflects framing close to edge of poster.
Color poster announcing one of P. T. Barnum's popular attractions from 1876 to about 1880, the tattooed Captain George Costentenus, said to have been a Greek Albanian born in or around 1833. His date of death is unknown, but was after 1894. Captain Costentenus also used the names Djordgi Konstantinus and Georgius Constantine. He was completely tattooed from his face to his feet, and according to reports, even his genitals. The number of tattoos is noted as 387 or 388. The dense pattern covering his body features a variety of fantastical mammals, snakes, birds and fish, as well as Burmese symbols and characters. What appears to be light blue ink and is sometimes noted as "indigo" was almost certainly an ink made of soot. The red highlights are probably vermillion, a pigment made from cinnabar, which is a toxic substance due to mercuric sulfide. The soles of Costentenus's hands and feet were colored in the cinnabar but without figures. Inscriptions in what were termed "Arabic figures" were tattooed on his face and neck. The story of his having suffered the head to toe tattooing as a punishment at the hands of Chinese Tartary captors is not one that P. T. Barnum made up although he probably condensed the tale into those two lines. There were a number of variations of Costentenus's story, which he himself was largely responsible for putting forth, so the exact truth, which was perhaps only a thread, is unknown. One story is that he claimed he had been a pirate and was captured in 1864 along with five others, three of whom were put to death by their Arabian captors. He and two others were subjected to the repeated tattooing. He survived, but the other two died. Another version of the story puts more emphasis on his being an adventurer, and that he was traveling with an American and a Spaniard on a mining expedition in Tartary when a rebellion broke out, they sided with insurgents and they were captured. In that tale, Costentenus and his companions eventually escaped but the other two did not long survive. Other information from the time notes he had a total of 388 tattoos and that it was the work of Burmese tattoo artists. The tattoos were in fact Burmese and the animals were traditional designs, each of which had its own magical power and meaning. Costentenus exhibited himself in Vienna, Paris, London, Berlin, and other locations long before Barnum hired him in 1876. The story of his tattooing was written up in the British Medical Journal in November of 1871, based upon his exhibition in Vienna. There, in 1870, a Professor Hebra was interested in him as a medical phenomenon and had Costentenus professionally photographed by a Mr. Ludvig V. Angerer, who was the photographer to the Austrian Emperor. A full-length portrait by Angerer shows Costentenus without any clothes, just a fig leaf covering his privates. The light or faded coloring of the tattoos, and the complexity and density of the pattern is such that one might glance at the photos made of him and not notice that he is tattooed. Costentenus was probably more heavily tattooed than any other person in his time period, and as such was considered a medical curiosity. European experts determined that the tattoos were authentically Burmese. However, the story of being taken captive and tattooed as punishment were surely invented.
The medium-sized poster, dating to about 1876 or possibly 1877, is titled at the top, "Coming with P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth." It features a detailed upper body portrait of Captain Costentenus showing him with long, dark hair parted in the center, a braid wrapped around his head, and a very full beard covering half his face. His skin is covered in light blue tattoos of various wild animals, imaginatively drawn. The designs include lions and other wild cats, elephants, serpents, fish, and various types of birds, with red dots creating patterns in the spaces between the animals. Beneath the portrait is the subtitle, "Captain Costentenus the Greek Albanian! Tattooed from head to foot in Chinese Tartary, as punishment for engaging in rebellion against the king." The poster was printed by H. A. Thomas Lithographic Studio, 865 Broadway, N.Y. The lithograph portrait was copied from a photograph by the Broadway, New York, studio "Mora," taken in December 1876. An example of this cabinet card photograph is in the collection of Harvard University. The lithograph image is virtually identical although it is reversed due to the print process.
The medium-sized poster, dating to about 1876 or possibly 1877, is titled at the top, "Coming with P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth." It features a detailed upper body portrait of Captain Costentenus showing him with long, dark hair parted in the center, a braid wrapped around his head, and a very full beard covering half his face. His skin is covered in light blue tattoos of various wild animals, imaginatively drawn. The designs include lions and other wild cats, elephants, serpents, fish, and various types of birds, with red dots creating patterns in the spaces between the animals. Beneath the portrait is the subtitle, "Captain Costentenus the Greek Albanian! Tattooed from head to foot in Chinese Tartary, as punishment for engaging in rebellion against the king." The poster was printed by H. A. Thomas Lithographic Studio, 865 Broadway, N.Y. The lithograph portrait was copied from a photograph by the Broadway, New York, studio "Mora," taken in December 1876. An example of this cabinet card photograph is in the collection of Harvard University. The lithograph image is virtually identical although it is reversed due to the print process.
A Gift of the Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut
2003.009.110