Law, crime and regulation

THE new ‘emergency guidance’ banning the export of worked rhinoceros horn appeared to have a limited effect at the first sale since it was introduced without notice on March 12.

A RUGBY-tackling mystery hero and a life-size pottery Great Dane helped scupper a daylight smash-and-grab raid targeting a rhino horn libation cup.

RESTRICTIONS surrounding the export of rhino horn from countries within the European Union have been further tightened to include all items, whether or not they have been ‘worked’.

THE High Court has ruled that Sotheby’s were not negligent in cataloguing and valuing a judge’s gold chain of office as late 17th century rather than a spectacularly rare survivor from Tudor times.

IT appears that precious metals will not be included in the new Scrap Metal Dealers (Amendment) Act if it reaches the statute book, as expected, later this year.

BONHAMS have renewed their call for better client protection in the wake of Auction Atrium’s demise, with the online auction house still owing six-figure sums to consignors.

THE government has issued a warning to the art and antiques industry over the sale of war trophies after a piece of a Saddam Hussein statue appeared at auction.

THE recovery of more than 400 lost works by Dutch artist Karel Appel has led to a call for storage companies to tighten their due diligence on objects they handle.

AXA Art are offering a substantial reward for the safe recovery of two archaeological fragments – a 5th century BC Persian low relief showing the head of a guard and a marble head dating from the Roman Empire – which were stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts during October 2011.

THE draft Metal Theft (Prevention) Bill before Parliament makes no distinction between those dealing in general scrap and the trade in scrap precious metal.

EVIDENCE that the trade is not taking the introduction of the beefed up Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) lightly is beginning to emerge.

DETAILS have emerged of a brutal and ruthlessly executed robbery which saw two armed men break into the home of an elderly art dealer in Northern Ireland on January 3.

AN eyewitness account of a raid on the Nomos/CNG coin sale in New York on January 4 reveals how police locked the doors of the saleroom and took down the details of all those inside.

ANTIQUE and secondhand jewellery valued at £430,000 has been stolen during a break-in at an auction house in south Glasgow following what appears to have been a carefully planned and meticulously timed raid.

THE latest UK government report on the export of works of art revealed that a modest £3.7m worth of treasures were saved for the nation in 2011 after being blocked from leaving the country last year.

NASA are trying to play down news of a row with Apollo astronauts over the sale of artefacts from the space programme dating back to the 1960s and ‘70s.

SECURITY measures taken at Great Grooms antiques centre of Hungerford have foiled ramraiders.

A 19th century brass lectern stolen from a church in Wiltshire has emerged at an antiques fair in Romania.

A WHITE knight has stepped forward with an offer to rescue the Wedgwood Museum collection after a High Court judgment ruled it should be sold off to pay pension scheme creditors.

A SPATE of raids between October and December have seen pieces of furniture by Robert Thompson stolen from rural churches in Yorkshire.