African mask sold in France for 150 euros: worth 4 million

Those two poor elderly people from a small French village couldn’t believe their eyes when the astute second-hand dealer offered them 150 euros for an African mask found by chance in the attic during the classic Easter cleaning. Some time later, however, they learned that the trader had made 26 thousand times as much from that object: 4 million euros paid by an anonymous buyer during an auction at the Hotel des ventes in Montpellier.

The two elderly people, however, never gave up. And so, convinced that they had been defrauded, they sued the shopkeeper accusing him of having misled them and claimed part of the sum through the courts. The judge listened to them, perhaps even expressed solidarity with them but in the end the verdict was very clear: application rejected because the two French gentlemen were “negligent and careless”. In essence, he explained to them, “when you have an object like this at home, you should be a little more curious before giving it up”. And therefore, before giving in to the first offer, it would have been appropriate to request an accurate evaluation of the historical and artistic of the object.

The mask is one “Ngil”, a rare example of an artefact (there are around ten in the world) of Fang people of Gabondating back to the 19th century, probably purchased “under unknown circumstances” by René-Victor Edward Maurice Fournier, French colonial governor and grandfather of the plaintiff. Carved from tropical fuma wood, in the shape of an elongated face, painted with white clay and decorated with a raffia beard, the mask is now at the center of a diplomatic controversy that has even called into question the French president Emmanuel Macron.

Two lawyers from the transitional government of Gabon, in fact, presented a motion to “obtain the subsequent cancellation of the sale of this mask, its repatriation and the delivery of the funds”, defining the object as an “illicit colonial gain” and arguing that it is was illegally taken during French colonial rule. But the judges also rejected this argument: when the object was purchased (and not “stolen”) in 1917, the West African country was in fact a French colony.

Macron, who asked for the return of the mask to Gabon, had a different opinion: “I cannot accept – he stated – that a large part of the cultural heritage of various African countries is found in France”. In one way or another, therefore, for the two elderly owners of a treasure without their knowledge, there will be nothing that can be done.