An art dealer bought an African mask for 150 euros. And that same mask, put up for auction, brought in 4.2 million euros .
It happened in France , where the first owners of the object - the Fournier couple, over eighty - having learned of its true value, judicially claimed part of the huge sum paid by an anonymous buyer during the auction at the Hotel des ventes de Montpellier.
The judge, however, rejected the request, underlining the "negligence and carelessness" of the two elderly people in getting rid of the object.
From what we learn, the mask in question is a rare example (there are about ten in total) of an artefact from the Fang people of Gabon, dating back to the 19th century and which was apparently purchased by an ancestor of Fournier, who at the time was colonial governor in Africa.
The mask remained "forgotten" along with other family junk for decades, until the couple decided to get rid of it. The amount received was small, and the amount received by the Montpellier auction house after the experts' evaluation was exorbitant.
Then the lawsuit brought by the Fourniers, at the Alès court, with the judge's ruling which however left the two elderly spouses high and dry.
(Unioneonline/lf)
