Law, crime and regulation

The government does not have to “show a causal connection” between the UK’s trade in antique ivory and the poaching of modern ivory, a barrister representing DEFRA said in court today.

“No reputable dealer wants to see elephants dead” was among the opening remarks by the QC acting for a group of dealers and collectors challenging the Ivory Act 2018, at the High Court today.

A change to EU law, requiring auction houses, dealers and agents in art and antiques to carry out checks on transactions and customers, will come into force in January 2020 – regardless of Brexit.

A painting by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) consigned to Irish auctioneer Whyte’s by a man in Lancashire, has been identified as having been stolen 25 years ago from a British public school.

Fundraising led by writers’ association English PEN has helped save for the nation the judge’s annotated copy of 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover'.

Two men from south London have been sentenced for selling antique ivory fans on eBay to buyers in China and the US. The items were illegally exported without the required export permits.

The antiques trade has been asked to help spot antiques from Sudeley Castle in the Cotswolds near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, which were stolen earlier this month.

The British Hallmarking Council has issued new guidance for jewellery dealers on articles hallmarked outside the UK by the Birmingham Assay Office.

A south London community is calling for the antiques trade to look out for a stolen cattle trough.

Defra has added Dover and the Eurotunnel to the list of ports that will accept the import and export of CITES-listed natural history specimens.

The Irish Antique Dealers Association has written to Ireland’s finance minister to press for VAT-free status as a green retail business, to relieve them of the 13.5% value-added tax they currently pay.

A Japanese museum has claimed it bought a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds “in good faith and without fault from a respectable art dealer” after it was identified as being stolen from a UK stately home.

The owner of a collection of paperweights is calling on the antiques trade to look out for items that have been stolen from a car in south London.