A circular tin lithographed advertising sign issued by the Buffalo Brewing Company of Sacramento, California, titled The Inquest. The somber composition features a fallen Native American figure on the snowy plains, with a distant herd of buffalo visible beneath a brooding sky. The imagery draws on the mythic narrative of Westward expansion and the buffalo as a symbol of a vanishing wilderness—motifs often seen in 19th-century broadsides and paintings by A.D.M. Cooper and contemporaries working in the romantic Western tradition. Printed by the American Can Company of San Francisco, the preeminent manufacturer of lithographed tin advertising in the early 20th century. Incorporated in 1901, the firm quickly expanded to dominate the West Coast market, producing signage for breweries, tobacco companies, and dry goods firms. This example—marked with the company’s San Francisco imprint and executed in a circular format with painterly composition—can be dated with confidence to ca. 1905, prior to the 1906 earthquake that destroyed much of the city’s commercial infrastructure. The Buffalo Brewing Company, headquartered in Sacramento, was at one time the largest-selling brewery west of the Mississippi River, distributing its beer across California, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Hawaii, and into overseas markets. This rare and powerful advertising piece offers both regional brewery history and frontier iconography, and remains among the most evocative images in early California saloon advertising. Dimensions: 17 ½ in. diameter Provenance: Bears the incised mark of legendary collector Tom Polansky on the reverse. Al and Carol Cali Collection. Pickup & Shipping: Free pickup in Sacramento. Shipping via FedEx within the continental U.S. for $110 + 1.5% insurance (unless waived in writing). Combined lot shipping available. Presents well with a few areas of inpainting visible under ultraviolet light, primarily along the border.