Law, crime and regulation

Legal cases, stolen art, regulation and tax issues remain important part of the art and antiques sector.

This category ranges from the levy of the Artist’s Resale Right to controversies over fakes and forgeries.


Lucas Cranach the Elder portrait

Christie’s to sell Cranach portrait after US museum and Jewish heirs make agreement over restitution

30 August 2024

A portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) and his workshop which has been in an American museum since the 1960s will be offered at Christie’s New York in January following an agreement between the institution and the heirs of a Jewish collector.

img_26-1.jpg

Export bar placed on Alan Turing’s unpublished Second World War papers

20 August 2024

A remarkable archive of newly discovered scientific papers by the mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing and his collaborator Donald Bayley has been temporarily blocked from export.

2910 NE Spink Iron Age

Iron Age coin bearing the name of a hitherto unknown British ruler is blocked from export

16 August 2024

A temporary export bar has been placed on a British coin sold at auction that features the never-seen-before name Esunertos.

img_7-1.jpg

Michael Jackson’s artwork pulled from Las Vegas sale at last minute

12 August 2024

A US auction house that was forced to halt the sale of a collection of drawings by King of Pop Michael Jackson (1958- 2009) at the last minute has said it fully intends to sell the works at a later date.

Scythian jewellery

Artefacts recovered and arrests made in Interpol art trafficking operation

30 July 2024

An Interpol operation has recovered more than 6400 objects and made 85 arrests across Europe

img_5-5.jpg

Silver chalice stolen from Bedfordshire church

22 July 2024

A 1659 original silver chalice worth around £15,000 has been stolen from a church in Sutton, Bedfordshire.

img_62-1.jpg

ATG letter: Policing will save ivory, not an antique trade ban

24 June 2024

Oh dear, here we go again (‘Crackdown on marine ivory trade: date revealed’, ATG No 2649).

Seminar set up to discuss challenge of new EU art import rules

24 June 2024

British trade associations concerned about impending EU legislation that will affect UK exports will brief dealers on the changes at a seminar in London on June 28.

img_10-1.jpg

Defra to crack down on marine ivory trade

17 June 2024

The trade in most antique scrimshaw and narwhal tusks will effectively be banned in the UK in just over two months

German art VAT cut welcomed by dealers

17 June 2024

Art in Germany might be about to get a bit cheaper with the German government confirming it will cut the VAT on art sales from 19% to 7% in line with its import VAT.

ATG Lawyer Writes V3 JPG

A lawyer writes: Anti-money laundering regulations are complicated but it is important to put in the time

10 June 2024

A longstanding client expressed his concerns to me about ensuring that he was doing everything right with regard to anti-money laundering and HMRC’s requirements.

Tefaf

Police recover more TEFAF stolen diamonds

10 June 2024

Police in the Netherlands have confirmed they have recovered two more diamonds stolen by armed robbers from The European Art Fair (TEFAF) in 2022.

Websit Christies

Christie’s reassures clients over personal data after cyber attack

10 June 2024

Christie’s says has it has seen no “evidence to suggest that personal information has been published or misused” following the cyber-attack that brought down its website.

img_12-2.jpg

Dealer loses entire fair stock in van theft

03 June 2024

A Colchester dealer has warned the trade of the risk of van thefts after his own vehicle, containing his entire stock for a fair, was taken from his driveway.

3Eef7177 Ced7 46B6 Bc23 C249fb9ca6b3

BADA members get to grips with new EU import legislation

29 May 2024

Trade organisation holds event covering regulations that will impact art, antiques and antiquities dealers

British Museum's Recovery Programme

British Museum recovers more stolen works but over 800 objects still missing

24 May 2024

The British Museum has recovered a further tranche of stolen and missing objects from its collection.

Gold Torc

Ancient gold objects stolen in brazen theft at Ely Museum

21 May 2024

Two valuable Bronze Age gold artefacts have been stolen from Ely Museum in Cambridgeshire.

IMG 20240503 WA0000

Dorset police appeal for information following burglary at antiques centre

17 May 2024

Lone thief took several high-value items of jewellery

Websit Christies

Christie’s website down, victim of apparent cyberattack

14 May 2024

Christie’s has been the victim of an apparent cyberattack that has brought down its website.

Matt Easton

Antique arms and armour trade defends itself in wake of mail sword ban

13 May 2024

Antique arms and armour dealers and auctioneers have come together to lobby against couriers restricting delivery of antique examples.

News

Categories