Black and grey photograph of a small shaded elephant tattoo with a tiny bird above its trunk, on the side of the ribs.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Small elephant tattoo on the ribs

Ribs · Black and grey · Photo

A small elephant with its trunk raised sits on the side of the torso, with a tiny bird or butterfly shape above its trunk. The elephant is rendered with soft grey shading and fine dark outlines on the body, and the rest of the image is in black and white. The tattoo is centred in the frame, with a polka dot skirt and zip visible below it.

Ribs Elephant Bird Butterfly

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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

The lorry came off the ferry at ten past four with a manifest that said circus equipment, one item, and a driver who kept touching the dashboard as though it might bolt. Sergeant Marr took the paperwork. I took the torch and the cold job of climbing up to the back doors, where the crate sat like a wardrobe someone had left out in the rain.

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Inside, wrapped in a moth-eaten blanket, was a stone elephant no taller than my knee. Its trunk curled up in a question mark, as if it had just heard its name called across a field. Above the curl someone had carved a swallow, or possibly a sprig of ivy, the detail worn soft by years of handling. The driver said it belonged to a Mrs Hollis in Folkestone, whose late husband had carved it for their wedding and had never once let it sit on a shelf, because he said elephants should be seen going somewhere.

Marr wanted to write it up as ornamental, value unknown, and move on. I held the torch closer. Tucked under the blanket was a folded card in a shaky hand: Please let him through. He always came back for the good things. I read it twice, then wrote ornamental, value unknown, and didn't underline anything.

We waved the lorry on. Before it pulled away, the swallow caught the lamp light for a moment, and I could have sworn the elephant had lifted its trunk a little higher, the way you do when you finally see the gate swing open.