Furnishings, Art From Lincoln S&L; Go on Sale Today

IRVINE —  Emerson J. Fesch was a manager of Lincoln Savings & Loan for five years until the Resolution Trust Corp. seized the Irvine thrift in 1989.

Since earlier this year, Fesch has been working for the RTC, the federal agency charged with selling the assets of failed S&Ls.; For three days beginning today, Fesch will be one of five former Lincoln employees taking part in the sale of furniture, office equipment and other property that used to fill Lincoln’s branches.

“It was sad in the beginning because we were selling desks and furniture our co-workers, even ourselves, used for several years,” he said. “We feel like a part of our lives are being sold.”

This is the first public sale of Lincoln assets, although about $500,000 worth of Lincoln assets has been disposed of in private sales. About $1.5 million worth of expensive office furnishings, oil paintings, fine porcelain and sculpture will be for sale.

Among the hundreds of items, the most expensive is a 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture of an American eagle with wings that spread 5 1/2 feet wide. Fesch said the $22,000 sculpture used to stand in the lobby of a Lincoln loan and accounting office in Phoenix.

American Continental, Lincoln’s Phoenix-based parent company, which was headed by Charles H. Keating Jr., sought bankruptcy protection from creditors in April, 1989. Regulators seized Lincoln a day later. The federal bailout of Lincoln is expected to cost taxpayers about $2.6 billion, making it the costliest thrift failure to date.

Also for sale is a $15,000 bronze sculpture entitled “Shenandoah Farewell,” which depicts two horses pulling a covered wagon.

There are also several sets of top-grade Royal Copenhagen porcelain dishes, teapots and ashtrays from Denmark. Prices range from $120 for an ashtray to $900 for a teapot.

The RTC will also sell a 14-foot-long, mahogany conference table with 2-inch-thick cherry trim for $8,000. It comes with a dozen matching chairs covered with burgundy leather, each costing $1,200, Fesch said.

The most inexpensive item is a set of six marble coasters costing $45, he said.

Fesch said his office received inquiries from potential buyers throughout the West Coast and from as far away as Japan. He doubts the federal government will be able to sell everything during the sale, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Sunday at 18200 Von Karman Blvd., Suite 100, Irvine.