A sculpted 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 demanding its "
return
" to its country of origin.
To discover
Discover the “Best of the Goncourt Prize” collection
Read alsoAuctions: unprecedented, a Fang Ngil mask reappears after a century
Extremely rare, this wooden mask with pure lines, prerogative of a secret society of the Fang people of Gabon, "
pulverized
" its estimate, very cautious, from 300,000 to 400,000 euros, rejoiced in a press release the Hotel des Ventes from Montpelier.
With the costs, it reached 5.25 million euros, according to the same source and " close on the
heels
" of the record of 5.9 million euros reached in Paris in 2006 by another mask of the Fang people, whose l esthetics inspired the painters Modigliani or Picasso.
“If I may say so, the thief should be caught with the stolen item.
This is concealment”
, exclaimed from the back of the auction room a man presenting himself as a member of the Gabonese community of Montpellier,
"Don't worry, we'll file a complaint.
Our ancestors, my ancestors, from the Fang community, we are going to recover this object”
, an
“ill-gotten colonial good”
, he launched, accompanied by half a dozen of his compatriots.
A dozen masks in the world
The auctioneer, Jean-Christophe Giuseppi, replied to him that the sale was being made
"legally, in the current state of (his) 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 governor's descendants found him at the time of the sale of a family property in the
“
He belonged to the secret society of the Ngil, of + vigilantes + who roamed the villages to flush out troublemakers, among whom were individuals suspected of witchcraft.
Their sentences could go as far as death
,” said 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.
