Export Licences

Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai (Omai) has been bought jointly by The National Portrait Gallery and the Getty Museum after long-running discussions.

An anti-slavery poem written in ancient Greek by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) has been temporarily barred from being exported from the UK.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy is launching a fundraising plan to buy a flag from polar explorer Captain Henry Kellett (1806-75).

Six artworks are set to be saved for the nation according to the latest Exports of Objects of Cultural Interest report.

A limestone relief depicting a group of female musicians in the palace of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten has been temporarily blocked from export.

An Italian Nativity scene has been saved for the nation after it was blocked from export by the government.

A 14th century French gothic ivory casket or coffret has been blocked from export by the UK government in the hope a British institution can raise the £1.5m funds needed to keep it in the country.

An export block has been issued on a Victoria Cross medal in the hope a UK buyer will emerge.

A conjoined roundel manuscript given by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Queen Elizabeth I has been temporarily blocked from export in the hope a UK institution can raise the funds.

A flag from polar explorer Captain Henry Kellett (1806-1875) has been barred from export in the hope £120,000 can be raised to keep it in the UK.

Sir Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of Omai has been blocked from export to give institutions time to raise the funds to keep it in the UK and the National Portrait Gallery is leading the efforts.

A 17th century example of Lombard art has been blocked from leaving the UK in the hope an institution can raise the £2m to keep it here.

The UK government has placed a temporary export bar on a James Tissot picture in the hope a UK buyer can be found to pay £2.4m and keep it in the country.

A temporary export bar has been placed on a Nicolas Poussin picture in the hope a UK buyer can be found to pay £19m and keep it in the country.

A Michelangelo (1475-1564) drawing previously declared a ‘National Treasure’ in France will be offered at Christie’s following the expiry of its export block.

Two European pictures have been temporarily stopped from being exported from the UK in the hope buyers can be found to keep them in the country.

A pair of group portraits by artist Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807) have been temporarily blocked from export in the hope a UK buyer will pay the £1.5m needed.

A buyer in the UK is sought to pay £50m for Sir Joshua Reynolds’ (1723-92) portrait of Pacific Islander Omai.

A temporary export bar has been placed on an early 17th century manuscript of lute music in the hope a buyer in the UK can be found.