Hopi masks snapped up after French court allows auction

[NBCNews]

Art Et Communication / Ho / EPAAn undated handout picture provided by Art et Communication press office in Paris, France on April 11, 2013 shows a mask entitled 'Angwusnasomtaqa' or 'Tumas Crow Mother' as part of the 'Katsinam Masks' auction sale at Drouot-Richelieu. By  Nick Vinocur, Chine Labbe and Lucien Libert, ReutersAn auction of ancient masks revered as sacred by a Native American tribe  fetched more than 750,000 euros on Friday, disappointing prominent  opponents of the sale after a French court ruled it should go ahead.

The  Hopi tribe of northeastern Arizona and supporters including the U.S.  ambassador to France and actor Robert Redford had urged the Paris  auction house to suspend the sale due to the masks' cultural and  religious significance.

But the court rejected a motion from the  tribe and Survival International, a non-government group representing  its interests, arguing that it could only intervene to protect human  remains or living beings.

The auction went ahead in front of a  standing-room only crowd, raising about 752,000 euros ($984,500) in  pre-tax proceeds as collectors snapped up dozens of lots in a sale that  lasted more than two hours.    


The most expensive, a crow-mother mask, went for 160,000 euros. Art Et Communication / Ho / EPAAn undated handout picture provided by Art et Communication press office in Paris, France shows a mask entitled 'Suyangevif' or 'Siyangephoya' as part of the 'Katsinam Masks' auction sale at Drouot-Richelieu. A buyer who acquired four masks said he was delighted to be adding to his collection of Hopi artefacts.

"One  day I might give some back," said the collector, who declined to be  identified. "But if it had not been for collectors in the 19th century  who contributed to the field of ethnology, there would very little  knowledge of the Hopi."

Some disagreed. A man with Hopi origins  studying in France was kicked out of the auction room for interrupting  the sale with an angry speech. Several people trying to take photographs  were also removed.

"We have lots of art that can be shared with  other cultures, but not these," said Bo Lomahquahu, 25. "Children  aren't even supposed to see them."

The Neret-Minet, Tessier and  Sarrou auctioneers said their collection of masks, priced between $2,000  and $32,000 apiece, was assembled by "an amateur with assured taste"  who lived in the United States for three decades.

A spokeswoman for the auctioneers was not immediately available for comment.

"This  decision is very disappointing," said Pierre Servan-Schreiber, the  lawyer for Survival International, a London-based advocacy group. "Not  everything is necessarily up for sale or purchase, and we need to be  careful."

Follow @NBCNewsWorld'Criminal gesture'

A chorus of opponents had  weighed in on the dispute, arguing the Paris auction house should  provide legal justification for selling the masks.

"To auction  these would be in my opinion a sacrilege, a criminal gesture that  contains grave moral repercussions," Robert Redford wrote in an open  letter.

The U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Rivkin, had urged  the auctioneers to reconsider, saying in a statement late on Thursday:  "A delay would allow the creators of these sacred objects the chance to  determine their possible rights."

Rivkin, who said that the  auction house had yet to provide the Hopi Tribe with essential  information about the objects, voiced his dismay in a Twitter message.

"I am saddened to learn that the sacred Hopi cultural objects are being put out to auction in Paris today," he wrote.

The  tribe's legal advocates had sued the auctioneers at the  Drouot-Richelieu auction house in central Paris on grounds that  auctioning the masks would cause the Hopi "profound hurt and distress."

Lawyer  Quentin de Margerie bought mask 13, a design which mocks tourists, on  behalf of Servan-Schreiber to give to the Hopi. He told Reuters few of  the collectors understood the significance of the artefacts they were  buying.

"It's a symbolic choice," de Margerie said. "What the  Hopi have said about this auction is that people don't understand their  culture."

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