A portrait-format A4 artwork on heavy white stock, worked in red and black with pencil and line, showing a grinning pirate skull whose cranium becomes the hull of a full-rigged sailing ship. Three tiers of billowing sails rise from the top of the skull, topped by a crow's nest and a fluttering pennant, while a coiled spiral shell pattern is drawn into the side of the head and rows of cannon barrels run out through the gun ports. The skull wears a tricorn hat bearing a white skull-and-crossbones, a boarding cutlass is thrust straight through the temple, and a spotted tentacle hangs down from beneath the hat across the jaw. The lower jaw shows a full set of teeth with a dollar sign marked on one of them. The whole design sits inside an oval frame of twisted rope with frayed, tasselled ends at the base. A small artist's monogram is drawn into the lower left of the design, and a separate flowing signature appears in graphite to the right-hand margin. The surrounding paper margin is plain and unprinted.

Background
The artwork is by American tattoo artist Don Taylor, who works and signs under the alias Molasses Jones. Taylor is based in Columbia, South Carolina, where he is the owner of The Howling Dog Collective, a custom tattoo studio and art gallery on Fernandina Road that opened in 2018. A Marine veteran, he is known for colour realism and new school tattooing.

Shells are a recurring signature motif in his Molasses Jones work, which is exactly what gives this design its title and its joke: Captain Blackshell turns a spiral shell into a pirate galleon growing out of a skull. Pieces like this sit in the tradition of tattoo flash and studio artwork, where artists produce finished drawings both as sellable art and as designs clients can choose from. Prints signed by a working tattoo artist are collected in their own right, and they tend to be produced in small numbers rather than as mass-market posters.

Condition
Pre-owned in Very Good condition. The print itself is clean, bright and crisp, with strong colour and no fading. The image area is unmarked, with no creases, folds, tears or pinholes visible. There are a few very faint handling marks and light surface specks in the blank white margins, most noticeably along the left-hand edge, which are only apparent on close inspection under raking light. The corners and edges are intact and square, with only the very slightest handling to the outer edge. It has never been framed or mounted so far as can be seen, and there is no tape, glue or hinging residue to the reverse edges. Supplied loose and unframed, with no mount, backing board or certificate. Please review all of the photographs closely, as they show the actual item you will receive and form part of this description.

Who it's for
This will appeal to tattoo art collectors and flash collectors, followers of Don Taylor and The Howling Dog Collective, and anyone building a wall of signed artist prints. It is equally well suited to pirate, nautical and skull art enthusiasts, fans of new school and neo-traditional illustration, and those decorating a studio, games room, bar or alternative interior. It also makes a strong gift for someone with tattoo work of their own.

Estimated Date
Undated. The signed monogram and the Molasses Jones alias place it within the artist's working career; he has been active under that name and running The Howling Dog Collective, which opened in 2018, into the 2020s. On that basis the print is most likely from the 2010s to 2020s, but nothing in the photographs carries a printed date, edition number or copyright line to fix it precisely, so no year is claimed.

Please check all images to ensure you are 100% happy before purchasing.

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