The couple sold the mask to an antiques dealer for only €150, but found that it was subsequently sold at an auction for €4.2 million. Image: Ekaterina Bolovtsova, via Pexels
A French couple have had their case rejected after trying to cancel the sale of a rare African mask, which they sold to an antiques dealer for only €150 – and was subsequently sold at an auction for €4.2 million.
The couple originally acquired the mask and other objects originally belonging to the Fang people in Gabon, including lances, a circumcision knife, a bellows and musical instruments, from a colonial-era ancestor who was a governor in Africa.
At the time of sale, they believed the objects were of little value, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The object is one of only about 10 of its kind still in existence, with one auction house official saying that a mask of this type is “even rarer than a Leonardo da Vinci painting.”
Learning of this, the couple filed for an injunction to cancel the original €150 sale, citing an “authentication error” and claiming that the antiques dealer was aware of its true value at the time of sale and was intentionally deceitful.
These claims, however, did not hold up in the court of Montpelier.
The court ruled that the dealer himself was not an expert in African art and did not know the object’s value at the time of purchase; furthermore, he later offered the couple €300,000 for the sale, the mask’s starting price at auction.
The couple rejected the offer and chose to sue the dealer for the full amount.
The court also rejected their claim on the basis that they made no attempt to have the item valued before selling it.
The French couple were not the only ones disputing the sale of the mask.
Members of the Gabon community, including Solange Bizeau, of the Collectif Gabon Occitanie, protested the auction, stating that the mask should be returned to the people of Gabon.
“Today this court case is about the grandchildren of the governor versus a secondhand dealer. But neither of them is legitimate in terms of this mask. What we want is the restitution of this mask to Gabon,” said Bizeau.
“This mask has a soul, it was used to establish justice in our villages. The discussion in court has been about morality, but what about the morality of the spoliation of works of art and our dignity? Where is the morality in that?”
However, the court would also reject a motion from Gabon’s government to return the mask to its country of origin, believing that there was insufficient information about the item’s history to rule in their favour.
