While cleaning the attic, they found an old mask. At first, they thought it was worthless
6:26 AM EDT, October 6, 2023
The story from France is stunning. A retired couple sold a seemingly worthless - in their opinion - African mask to a local dealer for 150 dollars. It turned out that the inconspicuous artifact was worth millions. Now the couple is fighting with the seller, claiming that they have been cunningly deceived.
In 2021, while tidying up their home in Montpellier, a retired couple stumbled upon several antiques, including an old mask from Gabon. The pair asked an antique dealer to appraise it and ultimately sold the African mask to him for 150 euros, delighted with making money on a "worthless" item.
They thought it was junk. Now they are suing the dealer
The price given by the dealer was not, however, in line with the actual value of the mask. Some time later, the seniors saw their mask at an auction. The antique dealer sold it in March 2022 for... 4.2 million euros (over 19 million PLN).
It turned out that the retirees had been keeping a very rare copy of a ceremonial mask of the Fang tribe from the 19th century in the attic, which once served as inspiration for great artists, such as Pablo Picasso. "Only a dozen or so pieces exist in the entire world in museums and collections" - reports "Insider".
Now retirees are suing the dealer for 5.2 million euros for allegedly deceiving them by concealing knowledge about the value of the item.
From court documents, it appears that the seller did not display the item in his store, but instead contacted several auction houses. He had a feeling that each one was underestimating the price and finally subjected the mask to carbon dating. Only this allowed an estimate of its true value.
The couple also claims that the dealer reached out to their gardener to gather more information about their family and origin and to verify the authenticity of the work before consulting with auction houses. Afterwards, he was supposed to share the money with the gardener.
The lower court initially sided with the dealer, ordering the couple to pay about 3200 dollars in damages and court costs. However, the couple appealed the verdict and the case remains open. The appellate court temporarily secured the money from the sale of the mask.
