Instrument for tattooing deserters, 1850 (c)

Manufactured by Savigny and Company, London.

This brass tattooing instrument was used as part of the punishment for desertion from the Army. The adjustable points were pushed through the skin by a sprung-powered mechanism and the initial 'D' for Deserter was tattooed upon the face or armpit of the soldier. The practice of marking deserters was abandoned in 1879.