Footnotes

Provenance
Offered directly by tattoo artist and studio owner, Darryl Gates

Diamond Jacks was Soho's longest running tattoo parlour. A world famous tattoo studio, it was originally set up by tattooist Dennis Cockell in 1985 under his own name and was the first ever fully registered and licensed tattoo studio in the heart of Soho, London. Before moving to these premises, Dennis ran the very well-known tattoo studio, 'Exclusive Tattoos' situated at 265A Finchley Road which he had for over a decade from the mid-70s. Working at a time when tattoos were still associated with most of society's more fringe groups, Dennis was one of the very few tattoo artists at the forefront of introducing tattoos to a younger, hipper crowd. The studio was later acquired by tattooist Ian Kaye in around 1996, and then Darryl Gates in 2003 who had worked at Diamond Jacks full-time since 2001 after having left his career in the music industry. Dennis started back at Diamond Jacks part-time in 2019 for a special project of '50 tattoos in 50 days' working alongside Darryl.

Nestled at 5 Walkers Court in Soho, the studio offered traditional, punk-rock, sailor and Japanese-styled tattoos, or as Darryl states 'tattoos that look like tattoos', and its long residence was a testament to their reputation and their dedication to the art. Over the years, both Dennis and Darryl have tattooed people from all walks of life and from all around the world, including many from the music, entertainment and arts industry. Some of Dennis' highlights include, Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, Duncan X, The Cult, Zodiac Mindwarp, Nick Cave, Paula Yates, Pete Burns of Dead or Alive, Steve Strange, Adam Ant, Dee Dee Ramone, Bananarama and The Stray Cats (including their logo); with some of Darryl's being Pete Doherty (responsible for the well-known skull and crossbones as featured on The Libertines' album cover), past and present members of Florence & the Machine, members of the Arctic Monkeys, Steve Bronski, and Alan G Parker - to name a few. He has also done projects for Classic Rock and Mojo magazines, and fake tattoos for the 2006 film This is England, and Cameron Diaz for New York Magazine.

Having been displayed above Diamond Jacks since 1985, the neon strips were added to the familiar street-sign in around 1996, thus cementing its presence as part of the Soho skyline and featuring in many photographs and films of Soho over the years. With the ever evolving world of London, Darryl decided to close Diamond Jacks in December 2021 with the aim of setting up a new studio. Both Darryl and Dennis will now be based at a new premises in the Soho area, and will be open for business again from Spring 2022.

Please contact the department for further images of the street-sign in situ. Technical condition reports available upon request.