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.


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Fresh government warning ahead of Brexit for import and export of CITES-listed natural history specimens

22 August 2019

Defra has issued a fresh warning for the antiques trade on the import and export of CITES-listed natural history specimens ahead of Brexit.

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Plea to keep £9.5m Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painting in the UK

19 August 2019

A Sir John Everett Millais (1829-96) picture valued at £9.5m will be exported overseas unless funding can be raised to keep it in the UK.

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Renewed threat of US tax on Chinese art

19 August 2019

A UK dealer is considering moving Chinese objects to the US earlier than planned in the hope of staying ahead of import tariff changes.

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US antiques dealer lawsuit against New York's ivory ban gets green light to proceed

15 August 2019

US antiques dealers have been granted permission by a court judge to go forward with a lawsuit challenging New York's complete ban on the trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn, regardless of age, within state lines.

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Art is back on Trump's China tariff list

14 August 2019

Dealers in Chinese art remain on high alert as art and antiques appeared on a new list of Chinese goods facing a 10% US import tariff from September 1.

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Nazi-looted French vases returned jointly by FBI and Christie’s

12 August 2019

The FBI’s art crime team and auction house Christie’s have returned a pair of Louis XVI bronze vases that were stolen by the Nazis to the heirs of the original Jewish owners.

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ARTIST'S RESALE RIGHT: The ‘rights and wrongs’ of law on resale duties

12 August 2019

New data has been released on the collection of fees for Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) but the art market remains split on its view of the levy.

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Monet’s Venetian Doge’s Palace painting blocked from leaving the UK

09 August 2019

Claude Monet’s ‘Le Palais Ducal’ has been temporarily blocked from export in the hope that a UK buyer can raise the £28.2m needed.

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Stolen snuff shoe recovered after ATG article

05 August 2019

A snuff shoe stolen from a stand at a fair in June has been recovered following an ATG article alerting the trade.

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Call for fundraising to keep £10m Turner painting in the UK

02 August 2019

A JMW Turner landscape valued at £10m will be exported overseas unless funding can be raised to keep it in the UK.

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Appeal to trade for help to trace family heirlooms and antiques stolen from London garage

02 August 2019

A glove signed by boxer Muhammad Ali, a 2ft bronze Buddha, a 19th century silk Persian rug and a Persian limestone relief panel were among the items reported stolen in a burglary of a garage in Maida Vale, north London.

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Glyn Philpot painting of ballet dancer Nijinsky barred from export in hope of finding UK buyer

30 July 2019

A rare portrait of the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky has been temporarily stopped from export from the UK in the hope a museum can raise the funds to keep it in the country.

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Art and antiques trade ready to work with new ministers following latest cabinet reshuffle

29 July 2019

As part of the new prime minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet reshuffle, new ministers for culture and for the environment have been appointed.

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Lost to the nation: Newbattle Abbey casket and John Singer Sargent painting are among latest treasures cleared for export

26 July 2019

The Newbattle Abbey Kunstkammer is the latest work of art to be granted an export licence this year, despite the arts minister’s attempts to retain them for the nation.

London Auctions on Chiswick High Road

London Auctions enters liquidation with vendors left unpaid

16 July 2019

London Auctions Ltd is insolvent and has entered liquidation proceedings. The west London firm, based at 30-34 Chiswick High Road is understood to have debts of more than £137,000 with around £44,000 owed to unpaid consignors.

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Dealers and collectors win High Court permission for judicial review of ivory ban law

15 July 2019

A High Court judge has given the go-ahead for a full hearing on the legality of the controversial Ivory Act, due to usher in a near-total ban on the UK trade in antique ivory when it comes into force later this year.

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Egypt threat of legal action adds to ‘politicisation’ of antiquities

15 July 2019

The Antiquities Dealers’ Association (ADA) has said dealers and auctioneers should stand up to “the politicisation of the antiquities trade” in the wake of a row surrounding the sale of a £4m sculpture.

Tutankhamun head at Christie's

Christie’s counters Egypt’s threat to sue over £4m sale of Tutankhamun head

09 July 2019

Christie’s has reiterated that it “carried out extensive due diligence” into a head of Tutankhamun after the Egyptian National Committee for Antiquities Repatriation (NCAR) said that it will instruct a UK law firm to file a lawsuit over its £4m sale.

A lawyer writes: The concept of ‘relative title’

08 July 2019

Case from way back in 1722 underlines this sometimes baffling aspect of English law.

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Appeal for help to trace stolen snuff shoe from antiques fair

04 July 2019

A snuff shoe belonging to dealer J Collins & Son was stolen at the IACF Ardingly fair in West Sussex from a stand in the Norfolk Pavilion.

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