The mask was valued at €300,000 by the auctioneers but sold for 14 times as muchA second-hand dealer in France has appeared in court accused of deceiving a couple by paying €150 for an African mask which he resold for €4.2m.
They sold it to the dealer in 2021, only to find out its true value following an auction six months later. The saga began when the couple - who are in their 80s and live in central France - asked the dealer to clear their holiday home near the southern town of Alès. The house had belonged to René-Victor Fournier, a colonial administrator in the early 20th Century.
In March 2022, reading about the auction in the city of Montpelier, the couple discovered that it was a rare 19th-Century "Ngi" mask made by the Fang people of Gabon.One expert said at the time that only about 10 such items had ever been made by Fang masters. "This mask is rarer than a Leonardo da Vinci painting," he told French media.