French Couple Sues Art Dealer Over African Mask He Bought for $160, Then Sold at Auction for $4.4 Million

An 81-year-old woman and her 88-year-old husband are suing an antique dealer after discovering that they sold an African mask to him for less than $160, only to find out he auctioned it for more than $4 million.

According to Insider, the French couple found the mask while cleaning a second home in 2021. They later took it to the antique dealer, who agreed to buy it from them for about $158.

Unbeknownst to the couple, it was a rare 19th-century Ngil mask used in rituals by the Fang people in Gabon. Only a few similar pieces are known to exist worldwide.

The dealer, identified by Daily Mail as a man known as "Mr. Z," then submitted the piece for additional appraisals and radiocarbon dating before auctioning it off for $4.4 million in March 2022, according to the outlet.

The couple is now suing Mr. Z for $5.55 million, claiming he withheld knowledge of the mask's actual value.

Court records obtained by Insider claimed Mr. Z did not display the mask in his shop after acquiring it, and instead sought estimates from auction houses, which initially valued it at around $600 before a further study revealed its true significance.

The couple said Mr. Z tried to find out more about the family history through their gardener to evaluate the mask's authenticity.

Insider reported that Mr. Z tried to settle the lawsuit for $315,000, but the couple's children rejected the offer.

Initially, a lower court ordered the couple to pay $3,200 in damages and additional fees after siding with Mr. Z, but the couple appealed the decision, per the outlet.

An appeals court has since taken $3.3 million from the mask's sale and will hold it until the lawsuit is resolved.