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Custer's Last Stand Chromolithograph Print in Original Frame, Anheuser Busch Budweiser. (108258)

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana / Art - Limited Edition Prints Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Custer's Last Stand Chromolithograph Print in Original Frame,  Anheuser Busch Budweiser.  (108258)
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According to our consignor, this piece came out of the Old Water Company Building in Virginia City on B Street 50+ years ago. It measures 31 ½ x 41 ½ inches sheet, 38 ½ x 49 inches framed. Chromolithograph . Toning consistent with age, moisture stains and water damage (see photos) chip from bottom edge under the word "Fine" of "Home of Budweiser and other Anheuser Busch Fine Beers." Colors are still unusually vivid, compared to other pieces seen in the collector's market place. Large tears in center of print that measure several inches. The piece is still encased in the original glass faced navy blue and metallic bronze/gold colored wood frame, but the paint is peeling badly and the wood is dry and cracked. The glass is still entact. The paper on the back is pulling away from matte, and ripped in a few small places, but still entact. Small margin directly under picture reads: "Entered According To Act Of Congress By Adolphus Busch March 30th 1896 In The office of The Librarian Of Congress At Washington, D.C." The following note appears under the image with the Title: "The Original Painting has been Presented to the Seventh Regiment U.S. Cavalry By Anheuser Busch Brewing Association, St. Louis, Mo. U.S.A." . Anheuser-Busch introduced this piece to commemorate the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Based on the 1884 painting of Custer's Last Stand, by Cassilly Adams, this chromolithograph is one of the oldest and most well-known pieces of American Breweriana extant. In her work Adams captured the iconic Battle of Little Big Horn that took place on June 25-26th, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in Montana, during the Great Sioux War. Shown are the American 7th Cavalry Regiment and the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes with General George Armstrong Custer in the center of the composition, standing tall and waving a saber, surrounded by violence, his cavalry clearly outnumbered. His brother, Tom Custer, also appears in the composition already defeated in battle. The Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho fighters are armed with scalping knives, tomahawks, clubs, spears, revolvers and rifles, while more appear to be arriving on horseback from the background.The vivid colors and striking details in facial expressions and costumes further heighten the drama and emotional intensity depicted in this print. Anheuser-Busch was founded in 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1876, the company introduced Budweiser, which became the first national beer brand of the United States. In the 1880s and 1890s, Anheuser-Busch launched a series of marketing campaigns in which they produced items such as corkscrews, pocketknives, postcards, and prints bearing their brand name--the present chromolithograph was the most iconic of these items, eventually becoming "one of the most popular pieces of artwork in American history" (Herbst, 38). Reference: Henry Herbst, "St. Louis Brews: 200 Years of Brewing in St. Louis, 1809 - 2009," (St. Louis: 2009) Catalogued by Xueli Wang, Columbia University, BA; Courtauld Institute of Art, MA. 

Provenance: The Historic V & T Railroad Depot Stockpile of Pierce Powell's Western Memorabilia
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