Black ornate filigree cross tattoo on the upper back of a woman with her hair in a bun, photographed from behind.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Ornate cross on upper back

Back · Black and grey · Photo

A woman is seen from behind, wearing a light sleeveless top with an open back and her hair in a loose bun. A dark, ornate cross with filigree detailing and a central medallion sits between the shoulder blades. The ink is black and grey, with fine linework, against a dark background that makes the design stand out.

Back Cross Filigree Medallion

Find an artist for this

Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Mr Pryce never let me touch the filigree until my hands stopped shaking, which in the winter of 1956 meant not until April. He worked at the back of the forge on Chapel Lane, where the coal smoke hung under the rafters like a second roof, and he kept a tin of silver wire on the shelf beside a holy water font he had pulled from a chapel that was being pulled down in Llandrindod. Nothing in that shop was thrown away.

Keep reading

In October Mrs Hollis came in from the Co-op with a sketch on the back of a dividend slip. She wanted a cross for her husband's grave, something with more lace in it than the plain iron the council allowed, and a round medallion at the centre for a name. Pryce drew it three times on brown paper while I worked the bellows. The scrolls had to tail off like ferns uncurling, and each loop had to be wound by hand so the light could get through.

When the casting was done and the pieces were cold, I found a tiny brass disc tucked in the wrapping paper, already engraved. It was not Mr Hollis's name. It was hers, with a date three weeks away. She came for it on the Saturday, wearing her good coat, and she asked Pryce whether it would stand up to a sea wind. He said iron that has been worked patiently will stand up to most things. She thanked him, tucked the cross into a carrier bag, and walked off towards the Llandudno train without looking back at the forge door.