An art dealer who made a 2,800,000% profit on a mask bought by a couple is on trial

An antiques dealer is accused of defrauding an elderly couple after buying an African mask from them for £130 and then reselling it for £3.6 million.

The second-hand dealer made a huge profit of 2,800,000% on a rare 19th century ‘Ngil’ mask made by the Fang people of Gabon at an auction in France.

But now sales have been halted by the Gabonese government, which says the item must be returned, the BBC reports.

The seller was taken to court by pensioners aged 81 and 88 from Nîmes in central France, who launched civil proceedings to have the sale annulled after realizing what had happened.

“This mask is rarer than a painting by Leonardo da Vinci,” one expert told French media, claiming that only about ten of them were ever created by master craftsmen.

It was originally brought to France by the man’s grandfather, who was a colonial governor in Africa, and the couple found it in his home.

Then in September 2021, they asked a dealer named Mr. Z to leave their holiday home near the southern city of Alès, and he found the wooden mask in a cupboard.

After finding it in the house owned by early 20th century colonial administrator René-Victor Fournier, the couple agreed to sell it to the dealer for £130.

Mr Z sold the mask at auction in Montpellier a few months later for a whopping £3.6 million, but claimed he had no idea what it was worth when he bought it.

Auctioneers had originally estimated the value at around £260,000, but the proceeds exceeded that of an unnamed bidder by almost £3.4 million.

The auction catalog states that the object was collected by Fournier around 1917 under ‘unknown circumstances’.

It wasn’t until the couple learned about the transaction in March 2022 that they finally discovered its true value and sought legal action.

The case began on Tuesday in Alès, but the Gabonese government has asked for the proceedings to be halted while a criminal investigation is carried out.

Gabonese officials say the mask was originally stolen and should be returned to the country.

Three years ago, the French parliament voted to return valuable colonial-era artifacts to Senegal and Benin.

There are reportedly around 90,000 African artefacts in France, most of which come from sub-Saharan Africa.

Elsewhere, the organizer of a Black Lives Matter demonstration who stole tens of thousands of pounds in donations for his own use was jailed.

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