Henk Schiffmacher (born 1952 in Harderwijk), alias Hanky Panky, is a Dutch tattoo artist, painter, writer and collector who has shaped the international tattoo world from his Amsterdam base for decades. His clients have included members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Kurt Cobain and Lemmy; he organised the first major tattoo conventions in Europe and has published more than twenty books on the history of tattooing. His extensive collection of tattoo artefacts formed the foundation of the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum and has been shown in institutions including the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris.
The mini-exhibition 'Merchant with Tattoo' - featuring objects from Schiffmacher's collection alongside the 17th-century painting with the earliest known Western European tattoo - runs until 30 August 2026 in Huis Willet-Holthuysen (Amsterdam Museum).
On 2 April 2026, Schiffmacher spoke as one of the main speakers at the talk 'Merchant with Tattoo' by the Amsterdam Museum, organized at the Vrij Paleis in Amsterdam.
At the end of 2025, Schiffmacher helped the Amsterdam Museum identify what turns out to be the earliest known depiction of a tattoo in Western European painting, discovered on a 17th-century group portrait.
In June 2023, Schiffmacher collaborated on 'The Poor Man's Rembrandt Project' at Museum Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam, where visitors could get tattoos based on Rembrandt's sketches.
