Extremely rare, this wooden mask with pure lines, acquired around 1917-1918 by René Fournier, hassprayed» its estimate oscillating between 300,000 and 400,000 euros, during a sale shaken by the protests of some Gabonese claiming the «restitution» of the work to his country of origin.
A carved mask from Central Africa dating from the 19th century was sold for 4.2 million euros excluding costs on Saturday in Montpellier, despite protests during the sale by some Gabonese claiming its “restitutionto his country of origin.
Extremely rare, this wooden mask with pure lines, the prerogative of a secret society of the Fang people of Gabon, has “sprayed“His estimate, very cautious, of 300,000 to 400,000 euros, rejoiced in a press release from the Montpellier Sales House. With the costs, it reached 5.25 million euros, according to the same source and “close behind» the record of 5.9 million euros reached in Paris in 2006 by another mask of the Fang people, whose aesthetics inspired the painters Modigliani or Picasso. “If I may say so, the thief should be caught with the stolen item. It is a concealment”exclaimed from the back of the auction room a man posing as a member of the Gabonese community of Montpellier, noted an AFP journalist. “Don’t worry, we’ll file a complaint. Our ancestors, my ancestors, from the Fang community, we will recover this object.a “colonial ill-gotten good”he launched, accompanied by half a dozen of his compatriots.
A dozen masks in the world
The auctioneer, Jean-Christophe Giuseppi, replied that the sale was taking place “in all legality, in the current state of (its) information”. Accompanied by the security service, the demonstrators left the room calmly, but continuing to protest against the auction of African works of art, where various objects were scattered, including a siege from the Congo awarded at 44,000 euros. Disputed by ten bidders, according to the auction room, the large Fang mask was acquired by a buyer on the telephone, to the applause of the room. The 55 cm high mask was collected around 1917, under unknown circumstances, by the French colonial governor René-Victor Edward Maurice Fournier (1873-1931), stationed in Dakar and then in the Middle Congo, probably during a tour in Gabon, according to the auction house. The descendants of the governor found it at the time of the sale of a family property in the Hérault in the attic where it had been sleeping since the 1920s. They were unaware of its rarity, according to the auctioneer Jean-Christophe Giuseppi who recalls that there are only about ten masks of this type in the world.
«He belonged to the secret society of the Ngil, + justices + who roamed the villages to find out the troublemakers, among whom were individuals suspected of witchcraft. Their sentences could go as far as death“, specified Mr. Giuseppi. For several years, a debate has existed on the question of African objects and works of art present in the collections of the European countries which had colonized the continent. Countries such as Belgium and France have thus initiated restitution processes. In November 2021, France handed over 26 royal treasures to Benin looted from the Abomey Palace in 1892 by colonial troops.