Law, crime and regulation

A series of Old Master paintings has come under the spotlight as further details emerge about a potentially major fakes scandal.

Earlier this year, authorities in France seized a painting attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) which was being exhibited in the Caumont Centre d’Art in Aix-en-Provence.

The possibility of a global ban on ivory that would allow exemptions for antiques was under discussion at last week’s CITES summit in South Africa.

Wildlife campaigners are calling for a crackdown on ivory exports from the UK after a report revealed trade doubled to Hong Kong last year.

A large collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain could be broken up and sold after a family feud among the heirs of Sir Michael Butler, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher.

Michael Baggott, silver dealer and regular TV antiques pundit, looks to his own specialism for a solution to the antique ivory conundrum – and volunteers to help

Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom has vowed to consult with the antiques trade over plans to tighten rules surrounding ivory.

Antiques Trade Gazette is partnering with auctioneer body SoFAA and dealer organisation the BADA to host a seminar on the essentials of CITES, as the government announces tougher rules around the trade of ivory-based objects.

The long-awaited tax fraud trial of art dealer Guy Wildenstein has begun in Paris.

The government is expected to announce that it will consult the antiques industry and other parties on the kind of proof that will be required to trade ivory pre-dating 1947, ATG has learned.

The market for antique ivory in France looks set to be paralysed by bureaucracy, a lawyer for dealer association Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA) has told ATG.

Environment minister Andrea Leadsom will tomorrow announce a full prohibition on the sale of ivory objects made after 1947, ATG has been told.

Auctioneers and dealers will have to provide proof that antique ivory is aged 70 years and older, according to media reports this morning.

A shake-up of the art lending market has been proposed by the Law Commission with eventual plans for an art assets register.

A UK-based art collector has been banned from exporting a World War II era painting from Australia.

The sentencing of former porters and auctioneers in Paris this week for the organised theft of thousands of artworks means the affair “belongs in the past”, the head of France’s auctioneering body told ATG.

The vendor of the ‘unworked’ elephant tusk trophy that Christie’s offered for sale against CITES rules in 2015, has himself been prosecuted.

A much-exhibited early 19th century drawing, restituted in August to the heirs of a Holocaust victim, has immediately appeared for sale in Germany.

Former porters at the Hôtel Drouot, the communal saleroom facility used by most Paris auctioneers, have been sentenced to jail for the organised theft of thousands of artworks, a French court ruled on Tuesday September 6.

Stamford dealer Stuart Porter has admitted to fraud charges in court following a long-running probe into his Lincolnshire antiques business.