Herman Bartsch’s C. Feigenspan’s Bock, created in 1887, turns a beer advertisement into a miniature pageant. At its centre stands a crowned, elaborately robed figure, raising a glass with ceremonial confidence while animated goats gather at his feet. Deep black and warm brown are lifted by golden accents, and the large, curving word “BOCK” gives the lower half of the design an emphatic graphic weight. Rather than presenting the drink as a simple commodity, Bartsch constructs an entire festive persona around it.

The poster belongs to a period in which American advertising was becoming increasingly pictorial and sophisticated. During the decades after the Civil War, expanding print culture allowed breweries and other businesses to cultivate recognisable identities through memorable lettering, colour and characterful illustration. Here the goats supply more than comic decoration: “Bock” is also the German word for a male goat, making the animal a long-established visual pun in the imagery associated with bock beer. Bartsch exploits that connection exuberantly, turning the product name into both typography and narrative.

A closer look

The regal figure governs the composition from the central foreground. His dark costume forms its strongest vertical element, while ornament around the neckline and sleeves breaks the broad areas of black into smaller decorative passages. Crowned and front-facing, he raises a bright glass above the surrounding activity. Fine highlights on its surface distinguish it from the heavier tones of the robe, ensuring that the advertised drink remains visually prominent even amid the elaborate costume.

Below, the goats introduce movement and mischief. Their angled bodies and lively poses counter the figure’s formal stance, leading the eye laterally across the lower part of the poster. Textures in their coats are described with close linework, yet their silhouettes remain sufficiently clear to function as bold advertising motifs. The arrangement is asymmetrical but carefully balanced: the king provides a stable centre, while the animals animate the space around him.

Lettering is integral to this structure. “C. Feigenspan’s” establishes the brand at the top, while the broad, curved serif letters of “BOCK” anchor the design below. A circular pattern radiates behind the central figure, lending his toast an almost heraldic emphasis, and delicate floral embellishments soften the upper edges. A dark border contains the scene, keeping its figures, ornament and typography compressed within a shallow, poster-like space. Along the bottom appears the small imprint “HERMANN BARTSCH, 54 BECKMAN ST. N.Y.”, a modest signature beneath the far more theatrical commercial display.

Context and significance

C. Feigenspan’s Bock demonstrates how late nineteenth-century advertising could combine direct communication with wit and spectacle. Its hierarchy is immediately legible—the brewer’s name, the commanding product word and the raised glass—but the goats and mock-monarchical figure reward a longer look. This fusion of text, mascot-like imagery and decorative framing anticipates the increasingly coordinated approach to brand identity that would shape modern commercial design.

What gives Bartsch’s poster its particular vitality is the tension between ceremony and play. The crowned drinker poses with solemn grandeur; the goats refuse such stillness. Together they make the advertisement feel less like a label enlarged to poster scale than a compact piece of visual theatre, rooted in the convivial imagery of beer culture and the confident graphic language of the American print economy in 1887.

Choosing the right size and finish

Artwork can feel intimate at smaller sizes and dramatically more architectural at larger ones. Use the room preview, model image and size guide to see how the proportions and scale will work in your space.

If you need an exact size, specialist framing or help planning a larger display, ask our workshop for advice.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this art print.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, or one considered visual detail. See examples of personalised artwork.

Choose Original to retain the colour and character of the source artwork, or Aged for a warmer, more antique appearance. See examples of our Aged artwork.

Every piece is produced to archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte art paper. Choose an art print, framed art print or framed canvas using the finish options above.

Framed art prints use crystal-clear optical acrylic for excellent clarity, lower weight and safer delivery than glass. Each piece arrives professionally framed and ready to hang.

Selected artworks can be produced at statement sizes up to 3 metres (10ft). Custom sizing and specialist framing are also available. If the exact option you need is not listed, contact our workshop.

This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.