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Export Licences


Black Prince bust

18th century sculpture depicting The Black Prince blocked from export

09 November 2026

A UK buyer is sought to raise more than £496,000 for a c.1735 bust of Prince Edward of Woodstock (1330-76) by Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770).

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ATG LETTER: Five reasons why I support the export system (not Arsenal)

30 October 2026

The big UK export licensing debate moves on... Ahead of an upcoming seminar to debate the hot topic, here, dealer Daniel Crouch, an expert adviser, defends the system, and Martyn Downer, who criticised it, responds

Bronze Age Scarthingwell battle-axe head

Plea for UK buyer to raise £15,000 for prehistoric British battle-axe head

26 October 2026

The government has issued a temporary export block on a 4000-year-old battle-axe head in the hope a UK institution can rase the £15,000 needed to keep it in the UK.

ATG Letter Nl

ATG letter: I believe the ‘transparency’ of the export bar process makes it ‘worthy of retention in its present form’

09 October 2026

In describing the work of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art (Letters, ATG No 2763) Martyn Downer says that the ‘often baffling temporary export bar process needs to be reviewed itself’: why?

Union flag

Dealer calls for ‘comprehensive review’ of export bar process

02 October 2026

Dealer and advisor Martyn Downer, a veteran of the temporary export bar process applied to culturally significant works of art or heritage items, says the system is no longer fit for purpose.

Union flag

ATG Letter: Why I believe the ‘often baffling’ temporary export bar process needs to be reviewed itself

02 October 2026

News that, within just days, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) has temporarily blocked the export of a Rembrandt valued at £71.7m and an Anglo-Saxon mount (which had already passed through the Portable Antiquities Scheme) priced at £1000 raises questions of the seemingly arbitrary and often baffling nature of the committee’s decisions.

Seated Nymph

UK museums urged to raise £4.6m to buy Renaissance masterpiece to ‘save it for the nation’

18 September 2026

The government has issued a temporary export block on an early 16th century sculpture in the hope a UK museum will be able to raise the £4.6m needed to keep it in the country.

Anglo-Saxon mount

Anglo Saxon animal mount is blocked from export

04 September 2026

An Anglo-Saxon mount, discovered by a metal detectorist in Norfolk and sold at Noonans, has been blocked from export giving an institution the chance to raise £1000 to keep in the UK.

Rembrandt’s Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet

Rembrandt portrait blocked from export for second time in 11 years

27 August 2026

A Rembrandt portrait sold privately via Christie’s has been temporarily blocked from export in the hope a museum in the UK can raise the £71.7m needed to keep it in the country.

Union flag

Collingwood Trafalgar flag comes ‘home’ to the north-east after successful fundraising

14 August 2026

North East Museums (NEM) has acquired a Union Flag that was flown from HMS Royal Sovereign, flagship of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, after it was barred from export.

Cultural goods import regime: EU is failing in its aims, says leading lawyer

24 July 2026

One year after the EU’s ‘new’ cultural goods import regime became fully operational, a leading arts and culture lawyer says the EU is failing in its stated objective of combating illicit trade.

Hand axe

Plea to UK museums to raise funds to keep Palaeolithic handaxes in the country

07 July 2026

Two 500,000-year-old flint handaxes discovered in Norfolk have been blocked from export in the hope a UK institution can raise the funds to keep them in the country.

Hans Baldung drawing

French government declares Old Master drawing National Treasure ahead of auction

24 March 2026

The auction of a rare and unpublished drawing by Hans Baldung (c.1484-1545) that was due to take place in Paris on March 23 has been postponed after the work was declared a National Treasure by the French government.

Leadhills Mine documents

Historical archive of Scottish Enlightenment mathematician and innovator blocked from export

23 March 2026

An extensive 18th century archive relating to James Stirling (1692-1770) has been blocked from export in the hope a UK institution can raise the funds to keep it in the UK.

Union Flag

Newcastle museum targets Trafalgar flag purchase

20 March 2026

North East Museums (NEM) has announced it is “submitting a serious expression of interest” to acquire a Union Flag that was flown from HMS Royal Sovereign, flagship of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805.

Mrs Acton in Delhi by Howard Hodgkin

Howard Hodgkin painting blocked from export in hope UK institution will raise the funds

06 March 2026

A painting from Howard Hodgkin’s (1932-2017) period in India has been temporarily blocked from export in the hope a UK institution will raise funds to keep it in the UK.

Two ‘putti’ sculpture

Plea for UK institution to raise £750,000 for Bedford House puttis blocked from export

10 February 2026

A pair of puttis, believed to have been crafted as one of a pair of chimney pieces for Bedford House in London, have been blocked from export.

Shock dog

Export block on 18th century ‘shock dog’ by female sculptor

03 February 2026

A UK institution has the chance to raise £635,000 to buy an 18th century animal sculpture after it was blocked from export.

Claude Lorrain’s Landscape with Rural Dance

UK institution sought for Woburn Abbey’s Claude Lorrain landscape

23 January 2026

A picture by Claude Lorrain (1600-82) has been blocked from export in the hope a UK institution can raise the £9m needed to keep it in the country.

18th century bust

UK institution sought for 18th century Bouchardon sculpture being sold by Scottish Highland council

13 January 2026

A bust of 18th century politician and landowner John Gordon of Invergordon (1707-83) has been blocked from export by the UK government in the hope a museum will raise the £3.1m needed to keep it in the country.