The auction of an extremely rare African sculpted mask for 4.2 million euros, initially purchased for 150 euros by a second-hand dealer from a couple in their eighties, was validated on Tuesday by French justice. The Gabonese State, a third party to the lawsuit, was dismissed.
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In September 2021, two retirees began emptying their country house in order to sell it. The octogenarians call on a second-hand dealer who acquires several objects, including this Gabonese mask in carved wood, the prerogative of a secret society of the Fang people. The purchase price is 150 euros. Six months later, he fetched 4.2 million euros at auction.
The couple therefore requested the cancellation of the sale. And if they cannot recover their ancestor’s object, the value of the mask at the end of the auction. “ The second-hand dealer knew what he was doing. My clients who are not art collectors thought this mask was innocuous. They feel cheated, abused », Explained their lawyer Me Mansat Jaffré before the hearing.
The sale was finally validated by French justice on Tuesday December 19. The Alès court ruled that the couple had “not shows no diligence in assessing the fair historical and artistic value of the property “.
Sacred mask
The second-hand dealer, who claimed not to be a specialist in African art, assured that he did not know that it was a mask of the Fang people dating from the 19th century, an object which allowed spirits to be invoked to to serve justice. On the occasion of a sale of African art objects, the second-hand dealer had contacted the Montpellier auction house which, after in-depth analyzes having made it possible to date this mask, and had estimated its value between 300 000 and 400,000 euros.
The court found that it had not been demonstrated that the second-hand dealer “ was aware of the unique value of the mask sold “.
Gabon, which wanted to recover this treasure, had filed a complaint for theft. At the hearing, the Gabonese Republic demanded the cancellation of the sale and the repatriation of the mask. Request deemed inadmissible by the court.
For Solange Bizeau, president of the Gabon Occitanie collective, this mask should never have been sold: “ We were hurt and shocked to know that it had been put up for sale. It is a sacred mask, it is not a work of art that is displayed in a living room for decoration. There, you are flouting the rules of a people. »
(With AFP)