Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a lodger [the ‘artful’ here implies the lodger’s trad. interest in his landlady].

1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1881		Trumble Sl. Dict. (1890).
1923		J. Manchon Le Slang.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 1: Artful Dodger: Lodger.
1942		D. Runyon in Star (Marion, OH) 31 July 6/8: Rhyming slang is not founded upon allegory unless we except a few similes such as [...] ‘artful dodger’ for lodger.
1960		J. Franklyn Dict. Rhy. Sl.
1971		J. Jones Rhy. Cockney Sl.
1981		P. Wright Cockney Dialect and Sl. 97: Artful dodger ‘lodger’.
1992		R. Puxley Cockney Rabbit.
2002		h2g2 🌐 Artful Dodger: lodger. I’ve got an Artful to help pay the rent.

2. a penis [= todger n.].

2003

B. Dark Dirty Cockney Rhy. Sl. 17: My artful dodger has been getting me into some dodgy scrapes recently and he’s suffering with a sore head now.