June 20 (Bloomberg) -- A Fang ``ngil'' mask, which sold for 5.8 million euros ($7.3 million), or three times its presale estimate, was the star at an auction of primitive art at Paris's Hotel Drouot, one of the consultants on the sale said.

A total of 514 works, mainly from Africa, were sold on June 17 and 18 for 43 million euros, including commissions, Pierre Amrouche said today. The sale preceded the opening in Paris this week of the Quai Branly Museum, dedicated to non-Western arts.

``We broke records for everything -- for the total and for individual items in their categories,'' Amrouche, one of three consultants, said. The works once belonged to the Verite family, whose gallery Carrefour was a center for primitive art in Paris.

The ``ngil'' mask from Gabon, with its concave shape and elongated features, is believed to be have been made in the 19th century, although it is not known how or when it came into the possession of Pierre Verite and his son Claude. It was sold to an unnamed private collector, Amrouche said in an interview.

The Branly used preemptive right to buy a statue from the Pacific region for a low bid of 48,000 euros, Amrouche said. Other museums also took part, including one from Chicago.

Among other record prices was the 2.5 million euros paid for a wooden statue from the Ivory Coast, known as a deble Senoufo. A statue of a Tshokwe hunter from Angola was sold for 3.2 million euros, or four times its presale estimate. Five works sold for more than 1 million euros, excluding commissions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Celestine Bohlen in Paris at cbohlen1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 20, 2006 10:15 EDT