A new client from Ohio paid $9,000 for this curved porcelain corner sign that read “Luxus Beer / Fred Krug Brewing Co./ Omaha, Ne.” It measured 24 by 16 inches, featured its original mounting bracket and had only slight fading and general wear. It was the top lot in the sale.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Girard Auction’s October 17 sale of nearly 400 lots presented the first of what will likely be many sessions of the collection of Dr Roger Knutsen, a retired dermatologist who started collecting in the 1970s with a focus on South Dakota history, advertising, signs, posters, Native American works of art and political antiques, among others. According to auctioneer Ken Girard, Knutsen wanted all the proceeds to be paid to his alma mater, Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.
Girard offered the collection without reserves or buyer’s premiums and, while he did not disclose the total for the sale, he said he was “very pleased with how the sale did. In all categories, we’re seeing the market for very truly rare and desirable things is very strong. The sale brought in a bunch of new customers and we had about 50 folks in the salesroom and another 350 registered online, which is pretty typical for us.”
The biggest surprise of the day was the $9,000 result for a rare curved porcelain corner sign for Luxus beer that predated prohibition. The buyer was a new client for Girard and is in Ohio.
A stoneware jug for Lobby Liquor House wines, liquors and cigars, from Lead, S.D., topped off at $3,000 to earn a second-place finish. Interest was fueled by its condition, which was described as mint or near mint and “great lettering.”
Great lettering and mint or near mint condition helped raise this 9¼-inch-tall stoneware jug for The Lobby Liquor House to $3,000.
Advertising clocks were in plentiful supply and two neon examples appeared among the highest prices realized of the day. Bringing $2,600 was a 24-inch-diameter Howards Mobil Service clock with the characteristic Pegasus logo that soared to $2,600; and, for $1,600, a Ford Sales and Service octagonal clock that had a new movement but was otherwise in original working condition.
Native American works of art were led at $2,900 by a beaded doctor’s bag that was decorated with American flags. Recognized in the catalog as being “a real attention getter in Dr Knutsen’s office,” it will be making a house call soon with an online bidder.
An original 24-by-36-inch Confederate flag from the Virginia Infantry Unit listed 13 battles in which the unit participated. A buyer in Rapid City snapped it up for $1,600.
This framed lot of six telegrams sent to Gutzon Borglum included one from his mother congratulating him on starting the Mount Rushmore carving. A buyer in Rapid City took it to $1,300.
Also staying in Rapid City is a set of six telegrams sent to Gutzon Borglum (American, 1867-1941), the sculptor best known for carving Mount Rushmore. Cataloged as “a one-of-a-kind piece of National and South Dakota history,” the lot had provenance to an auction in the 1970s and finished at $1,300.
Girard confirmed that two lots signed by frontiersman, business proprietor, politician, sheriff and US Marshall, Seth Bullock (1849-1919) were acquired by a museum in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
Girard will partner with Bradeen Auction in Custer, S.D., to sell the next assortment from Knutsen’s collection, in an online-only sale in January, the date to be announced.
As the auction house does not charge a buyer’s premium, prices quoted are the hammer prices. For information, Girard Auctions is at 605-267-2421 or www.girardauction.com; Bradeen Auction is at 605-673-2629 or www.bradeenauction.com.
