A French couple sued an antique dealer who resold their “useless” mask for $4 million (3 photos)

Now they want to return the item, but the court is still on the side of the antique dealer.





An elderly couple from the French city of Montpellier did a spring cleaning in their second home in 2021, during which they discovered a bizarre mask. The couple decided to take it to an antique dealer so as not to throw it away and get at least some money for it. The thing was of no value to them and they were happy to sell it to a junk dealer for 150 euros ($158).

However, it later turned out that the thing found in the house turned out to be a rare work of African art - a 19th century Ngil mask, which was used in rituals by the Fang people from Gabon. There are no more than a dozen such masks in Western museums. As a result, the mask was auctioned for 4.2 million euros ($4.4 million). Having learned about this, the 88-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife filed a lawsuit against the antique dealer, accusing him of deception. Allegedly, he withheld information about the value of the item from them. Now they are demanding $5.5 million from the antique dealer who “deceived” them.



Mask found in house at auction house

As for the antiquarian's side, it follows from the court case that initially he had no opinion about the true value of the item. But there was a professional flair. He did not display the mask in his store, but turned to the auction houses Drouot Estimation and Fauve Paris so that the local experts could name its approximate cost. However, the experts there turned out to be of the same level as the married couple. Both auction houses valued the mask at approximately 600 euros.

However, the antiquarian did not believe the experts and decided to do a radiocarbon analysis of the mask, which confirmed its value. After this, real experts in the field of African art were found and the mask was put up for auction with an approximate value of 315-420 thousand dollars. Collectors fought for such a rare item for a long time and in the end it went for as much as 4.4 million dollars.



One of the auction houses that the antique dealer contacted

It is noteworthy that the couple, who unknowingly lost such a valuable item, at the trial accused the antique dealer of communicating with their gardener in order to find out the history of the family and determine the approximate value of the purchased item. He did this, according to the plaintiffs, before contacting auction houses. Subsequently, they claim, the antique dealer divided the money with the gardener.

It is known that the antique dealer tried to settle the matter amicably by offering the couple $315,000, but they refused to accept the money on the advice of their children. And now they risk getting nothing.

A lower court sided with the antique dealer, ordering the couple to pay him $3,200 in damages. But the couple appealed this decision. The case remains open now. It is known that the appeal court seized the money from the sale of the mask and the tax that the antique dealer paid to the state.