Ivory regulation

A lawyer writes: Case study of an ivory import shows how frustrating the system can become

The sale at Moore Allen & Innocent on October 11-12 includes a series of personal items relating to William Duke of Clarence, later William IV (1765-1837).

The ivory-made launching mallet and silver casket from the ill-fated RMS Empress of Ireland came for sale at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow.

It’s no surprise that prices of Art Deco bronze and ivory figures have fallen sharply since US and UK laws on the sale of elephant ivory were tightened.

A new auction record for netsuke – over three times the previous high – has been set in France.

I despair of this government. After banning antique ivory sales we now will see the disappearance of what I consider works of art from sailors long ago passing the time by carving on animal tusks (ATG No 2595).

This week we have heard that the government plans to ‘extend the Ivory ban’. It has been reported in the press, on the radio and on television.

The trade in antique scrimshaw and narwhal tusks will effectively be banned in the UK once a proposed extension to the Ivory Act becomes law.

The Antiques Rescue Centre (ARC) received its first donations from an auction house and has catalogued them for its records.

Following a Freedom of Information Request by Antiques Trade Gazette, the agency charged with administering The Ivory Act has issued some data on the controversial law.

When the 2018 Ivory Act was being debated key campaigners (Born Free, many MPs including Angela Rayner and numerous celebrity supporters -notably Stephen Fry and Deborah Meaden) argued that the Act would IN NO WAY cause the destruction of antiques.

I have just entered an early 19th century portrait miniature painted on ivory into my local auction and have been informed that, in order to enter it, I have to pay a £20 fee for it to be accepted for sale.

Referring to the UK’s near-total ban on selling antique ivory objects, would the beautiful Vizagatapam, India, c.1830-50, ivory chess set in the collection of Mr Holger Langer (Collector Interview, ATG No 2550) be classed as museum quality?

A suite of solid ivory and gilt furniture sold by Christie’s on July 7 appears to be the first auction lot to benefit from the exemption to the Ivory Act allowing the sale of items of ‘outstandingly high artistic, cultural and historical value’.

As a dealer with a number of antique ivory works of art for sale, I am now having to involve myself in conforming to the new legislation.

The Ivory Act, a near-total ban on the sale of antique ivory, comes into force in the UK on June 6.

Portrait miniature on ivory are among the exemptions provided in the new Ivory Act [coming into force on June 6 – see front page of this issue].

Decisions on act exemptions inevitably run the risk of subjective assessments