Nov 21, 2024 - Sale 2687

Sale 2687 - Lot 244

Unsold
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(WEST--NEVADA.) P.E. Larson, photographer. A Morning Call in a Beer Hall. Silver print, 6½ x 8½ inches, captioned and numbered #4290 in the negative, unmounted; minimal wear. Goldfield, NV, circa 1906
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Additional Details

Gold was discovered in Goldfield (about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno) in 1902. By 1906, the population had peaked at about 20,000; it presently sits at about 225. This image shows seven rough-looking characters getting an early start on the day's drinking, or perhaps wrapping up from the night before. One is taking just a brief rest with his feet up on the table. Newspapers and an empty liquor bottle are prominently displayed, with posters for Falstaff, Budweiser and Rainier beer behind them, as well as an ad for the Tahoe Tavern.

Per Edward Larss (1863-1941) emigrated from Sweden, had a successful career as a gold-rush photographer in the Yukon, anglicized his name to P.E. Larson, and relocated to Goldfield, NV in February 1905 to replicate his earlier success.

"Larson composed an image that is part of a commentary on the seedier side of Goldfield. To Larson, the saloon was the breeding ground of the radical. . . . Behind the miners hangs a poster with a portrait of Charles Moyer, president of the Western Federation of Miners"--Bailey, "Frozen In Silver: The Life and Frontier Photography of P. E. Larson," page 215, from another example at the Nevada State Museum.

We are not aware of any previous Larson photographs passing through Swann, and yet in this auction by a strange coincidence, we have two with remarkably similar subject matter--offered by completely unrelated consignors with different provenance (see previous lot).