Law, crime and regulation

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.

THE important 17th century ivory barometer stolen from the Fairfax House Museum in York has been recovered and is back on display in the museum.

A DISPUTE between Lord Lloyd Webber and the HM Revenue and Customs over the purchase, with the aid of taxpayers' money, of J.W. Waterhouse's St Cecilia by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, has been settled out of court.

CHRISTIE’S have launched legal action against US Internet entrepreneur Halsey Minor. Minor took Christie’s to court last December, accusing the auction house of fraud and a number of other torts after pictures he consigned to Christie’s dealership Haunch of Venison in May 2008 were not returned “in a timely fashion” when they failed to sell.

BRITISH Art Market Federation chairman Anthony Browne is fighting a rearguard action against the unexpected news that the Export Licensing Unit is to move to Birmingham.

A WELL-ORGANISED gang targeted the premises of Cirencester auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent on May 28, taking antiques with a combined value of between £20,000-40,000.

EBAY UK have launched a new anti-counterfeit campaign and want to work closely with the antiques industry to beat the fakers.

EBAY have now added a London High Court victory against a claim from luxury brand L’Oréal to the one they gained in France last month.

PICTURED here is a medal commemorating the taking of Porto Bello by Admiral Vernon in 1739. It was among the items stolen from a country house museum in south Derbyshire on the afternoon of May 20.

THE Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA) has stepped up its efforts to recover books stolen by its former president, David Slade, from Sir Evelyn de Rothschild.

THE tide has turned in favour of eBay in the legal war over the sale of counterfeit goods on their site after a French court backed them against L’Oreal.

CHRISTIE’S Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS) have announced that they will open a new facility at The Singapore Freeport in January 2010, offering a secure tax-free location for the storage and transaction of fine art and antiques.

A metal detector enthusiast who pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud has been jailed for six months for selling modern fakes.

BURRELLS Antique Desks have won their case against rival dealer Steve Campbell in a dispute over his use of their name to divert customers to his business via the internet.