Treasures Go on the Block at O.C. Event

Jeweled bracelets, rare Catalina pottery and -- for Elvis fans -- original postcards of the King, will be sold as part of a government auction today in Santa Ana.

The inventory, which includes garage-sale knickknacks, high-end pocket watches and many other items, has come from the estates of the living and the dead, said John S. Williams, the county’s public guardian and public administrator.

As public administrator, Williams’ office protects the assets and manages the affairs of deceased residents who have no will or executor.

As public guardian, the office gets referrals from law enforcement, the court and adult protective services to help elderly residents unable to care for themselves.

After appointment by the court, the office assumes responsibility for the care of a person and his or her assets.

“We are kind of the office of last resort,” Williams said.

The auction is important in two ways, he said.

Proceeds from items owned by the recently deceased go to heirs and to pay off debts. Money from items owned by living residents goes into trust accounts to pay for their care.

Today’s auction starts at 9 a.m.

A recent Times series highlighted abuses of the elderly and problems with conservatorships.

Williams stressed that those problems mostly involved private conservators, not the public guardian.

More than 20 estates are to be liquidated, representing about 500 items taken from homes, cataloged and kept in a Santa Ana storehouse.

On Saturday, warehouse supervisor Mike Kehtel will be the auctioneer, which he has done for more than 100 auctions at the warehouse at 1300 S. Grand Ave.

An assistant, Sheridan Rose, has become something of an expert on collectibles in nine years as inventory clerk.

Kehtel relies on Rose to help set the opening price. Rose said he owed his expertise to a fascination with top-quality items.

“I buy a lot of books on this stuff,” Rose said, describing the differences between everyday ceramics and American art pottery from companies like McCoy and Roseville.

The county is trying to get the most from each estate because the money goes to help those who need it, Kehtel said.

It takes a trained eye to set a price and tell a rare collectible from a piece of old junk.

Neither Rose nor Kehtel wants to get outdone by collectors and jewelry store owners, who prowl such auctions looking for bargains.

Some arrive with diamond testers and scales to weigh gold, they said.

Because of budget constraints, the county doesn’t hire appraisers to certify whether bracelets and rings have real diamonds.

Those items are auctioned as “clear stones,” and everything is sold as is, both men said.

Rose pointed out ceramic plates and saucers from a partial dinner setting. The yellow and turquoise plates looked artistically simple.

“Look here,” Rose said, pointing to the back of a plate. “It says, ‘Catalina.’ These plates were potted at Catalina Island. And they’re becoming rare.”

Catalina is a colorful pottery, with an equally colorful history, said Jerry Kunz, 72, a San Francisco collector.

Santa Catalina Island pottery was made from 1927 to 1937. “A pristine, 18-inch tall Catalina vase sold recently for $7,200,” Kunz said.

Decorative hand-painted Catalina plates, even ashtrays, are fetching from $25 to $50 on EBay, the online auction website, Kunz said.

For bargain hunters, the county auction offers opportunities, like bidding on a vintage metal bed frame even if it has seen better days.

“It might look beaten up, but it’s from a previous era and would look cool in, say, a second bedroom,” Kehtel said.

But sometimes auction organizers get stumped when they run across items not listed in any collector’s book or when a manufacturer’s name has rubbed off.

“I remember we had a vase that looked valuable,” Kehtel said. “I talked to Rose and mentally I put a price on it at $200. It sold for $1,000.”

After the sale, they discovered from the buyer it could command even more in a retail shop.

“Our purpose is to benefit the estate of someone,” Kehtel said. “This person may be deceased, but we’re helping sell the final things from a person’s life and we want to do right by them.”

It was only inevitable that over time, that he would eventually sell something from someone he knew. It was a fellow church member who died leaving very little.

“His name was so familiar, and it dawned on me that I knew this guy. We only sold two wristwatches and a TV of his,” he said. “I guess it was a way of saying goodbye.”