Lot 5162: DENSLOW, WILLIAM WALLACE. 1856-1915.

7 Original illustrations, pen and ink and watercolor, and pencil, one signed ("DNE") with seahorse, another signed with seahorse only, various sizes (6 ¼ x 7 3/8 inches to 4 x 1 ¾ inches), being a mock-up of a folded brochure titled "The Story of the Rheingold Beer," cover slightly soiled, but generally excellent.

An excellent example of Denslow's advertising artwork. The front and back cover of the brochure feature a colored scene with Wotan (?) enjoying a glass of beer while his wife Fricka (?) and their dachshund look on. Touches of Denslow's humor abound, as with the golden pretzel above Fricka's head. Other illustrations feature Fafner; Freia; a Westerner and a Japanese man enjoying beer together; a double-page illustration depicting a crowned Bear and a crowned Lion enjoying beer together; a young German fencer with his dobermann pinscher, sword, and a beer stein; two men fighting over a glass of beer, etc. A couple of the penciled illustrations feature Denslow's identifying notes.
See illustration.