Law, crime and regulation

THE London art trade has welcomed the news that the Acquisitions, Export and Loans Unit’s (AELU) move to Birmingham has been delayed by three months.

MORE than a year after his county court victory against Royal Mail, coins and banknotes dealer Bruce Goulborn is taking them to court again.

PICTURED here is an artist’s impression of one of a cache of easily identifiable antiques stolen from the Spanish home of two retired British antiques dealers.

THE Geneva Freeport (Port Franc) have insisted that a recent change to Swiss customs laws will not affect the city’s reputation as the art warehouse of Europe.

ON September 17, eBay delivered a petition to the European parliament demanding a law change to stop luxury brands controlling where their goods are sold.

A THOMAS Tompion table clock was among the items stolen in a raid on a Cumbrian stately home on Saturday, September 19.

A long-running complaint brought against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts by the owner of a work twice denied by their authentication board has been granted class action status.

IN a fresh attempt to help the fight against the illicit art trade, the international police organisation Interpol has made its database of stolen art available to access online.

POLICE in Scotland are investigating the theft of valuable jewellery after a sales representative from a London dealership was set upon by four men in an Oxfam bookshop in Perth.

POLICE are on the look out for two people following the theft of a pair of 19th century Coalport vases from an antiques centre in Shropshire.

A NEW crop of fake carriage clocks, believed to be made in China, has appeared on eBay.

A STOLEN chequebook has been used to purchase items from at least two antiques shops in Ludlow, Shropshire.

THIS portable regulator signed Thwaites and Reed, London sold for £16,500 (plus 19.5 per cent buyer's premium) at Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset on July 10.

INFORMATION on some of the valuable pieces of Sèvres porcelain stolen from Lord Gage’s Sussex stately home last month have now been released. The items taken from Firle Place are thought to be worth in the region as £1m and include a rare Sèvres Pompadour marbled ground vase from c.1761.

OVER the past year, dealers have voiced fears that a proposed European Union Directive banning energy inefficient incandescent light bulbs could seriously damage the trade in antique lighting.

THE dealer who bounced a cheque at Durrants Auction Rooms, reported in last week's ATG has come forward to say it was a 'hiccup' and the bill will be paid.

A LENGTHY police investigation has led to the jailing of a retired solicitor, convicted on charges linked to money laundering and efforts to sell a stolen £500,000 painting.

THE Safergems initiative, aimed at tackling crime committed against the trade and improving links with UK police forces, has now been launched.

DURRANTS Auction Rooms have issued an alert about a man claiming to be an antiques dealer from Belgium, who has recently bounced a cheque for nearly £3500 at their rooms.

BRINGING out the bidders in Banbury, this Indian Mughal carved ivory khandjar handle sold for £24,000 at Holloways' latest sale.