Business
Published December 19, 2023, 2:53 p.m. ET
An antiques dealer who sold a rare African mask for $4.6 million won a legal battle with the elderly couple who sold it to him for $165 without knowing the true value of the treasure.
According to CNN, a French couple in their 80s acquired the wooden mask from an ancestor who was a governor in Africa and kept the family heirloom along with other African artifacts in their second home in southern France.
When the 88-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife – identified in court documents only by their initials – wanted to sell the house, they held a garage sale.
Up for grabs included the “Ngil” mask that once belonged to René-Victor Edward Maurice Fournier, who served as a colonial governor in Central Africa in the early 20th century when large parts of the continent were under French colonial rule. per CNN.
A second-hand antique dealer purchased the piece for just $165, along with several other small items such as lances, a pruning knife, bellows and musical instruments. According to court documents, the couple believed the price was fair at the time.
An elderly couple sold this African “Ngil” mask to an antique dealer for just $165, not realizing it could actually be worth millions. AFP via Getty Images
But just six months later, the couple learned the true value of the mask after reading a newspaper article.
When it was auctioned in Montpellier, France, auctioneers described the mask as “an extremely rare 19th-century mask, the property of a secret society of the Fang people of Gabon” in central Africa, according to the Chron.
It was purchased by an unknown buyer for a staggering $4.6 million.
The couple filed an injunction to cancel the initial sale of the heirloom, but a court dismissed their claims, saying they failed to have the mask appraised before selling it. AFP via Getty Images
The French couple immediately filed an injunction to cancel the original sale of the piece, which was just one of 10 surviving objects once used by an ethnic Bantu group.
The couple argued that there was an “authentication error” at the time of sale and insisted the retailer defrauded them because he “knew the actual value of the mask” at the time of purchase, according to the Chron.
A judge rejected the couple's request, saying their “inexcusable negligence and frivolity” was the cause of their problems as they made no attempt to have the mask appraised before selling it and were therefore not owed any money be.
Auctioneer Jean-Christophe Giuseppi of Montpellier Auction House hosted the sale of the mask, which started at about $330,000. AFP via Getty Images
The court ruled that the couple was also not taken advantage of in the transaction because the dealer himself was not an expert in African art, the Chron reported.
The dealer even offered the couple around $330,000 – the starting price of the auction – but their children rejected the offer and instead chose to take the matter to court.
The Post has reached out to Frederic Mansat-Jaffre, the couple's attorney, for comment.
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