Here's the scoop from tattoo enthusiast and professional researcher Mr. Carmen Forquer Nyssen. His excellent detective work uncovered this old postcard of Coleman's Place. Clear ok, maybe a trifle blurry, but evidence that Battleship Kate was indeed Coleman's creation. Thar ' she is matey! Luckily not to have been reduced to a crispy cornflake by the sun streaming through the window. We have the dragon from said window. It's like a fragment of ancient Egyptian parchmant. Archived now, but a few more years of relentless smoke and sun and it would have been burnt toast.
Indeed. This figure might be the Holy Grail of tattoo artifacts. Probably worth the bread as everything by the Ol' Man is considered the gold standard of the tattoo world.
Caught flatfooted. Were we the only one's who didn't know who the artist was? Probably. Catching the vapors, as they say, our auction paddles down flat as bidding jetted to $28k.
"Don't forget to do your homework!" Heard that before. But that's another story for those willing to gather round to hear the long tale of a hard sad life. That will be us; in the woulda-coulda-shoulda seat down at the end of the Terminal Bar. Hey! Who's going to light this cigar for me anyway? And what's this? Who put ice in my drink? I didn't ask for ice.