Law, crime and regulation

A group of Mesopotamian antiquities destined for collectors in the UK was discovered to be fake and seized in an operation by Border Force and the British Museum.

A collection of cameras, photographs and accessories put together by a private collector for more than 45 years has been stolen from a storage unit in north London.

A Vincent Van Gogh painting from the early part of the artist’s career has been stolen from a museum in the Netherlands.

Police are trying to trace antique jewellery stolen by burglars from Norah’s Antiques in Oxford.

Detectives are appealing for information after five deactivated guns used in James Bond movies were stolen from a residential address in Enfield, North London.

The owner of a painting by Mod Brit artist Terry Frost (1915-2003) is appealing for help after he left it on a train from London to Milton Keynes on January 23.

Arts Council England has appointed the Institute of Art and Law to help form new guidance for institutions around the thorny issues of restitution and repatriation of cultural objects.

Three Old Master paintings, including Annibale Carracci’s A Boy Drinking, have been stolen from a museum in Oxford.

Art and antiques dealers welcomed news from Chancellor Rishi Sunak that the government will abolish business rates for small businesses this year but warned more still needs to be done.

A sixteenth century double-handled maiolica albarello, bought by Mayfair dealer Sam Fogg in 2014, has been acquired by the British Museum.

A lawyer acting for dealers and collectors bidding to have the Ivory Act 2018 overturned warned antique ivory owners they need to “prepare to sell quickly” if judges reject the legal challenge.

The final attempt by dealers and collectors to block the Ivory Act, taking place in the Court of Appeal early next week, will be live streamed on YouTube.

A new museum in Plymouth has acquired a ‘colossal and extraordinary grotesque grinning crab’ by the Martin Brothers after fundraising to keep the sculpture in the UK.

The art and antiques trade have been called upon to help locate missing items after a series of incidents.