Ivory regulation

The owner of leading south Florida auction house Elite Decorative Arts has pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking and agreed to a fine of $1.5m.

Guidance issued this month by the authorities charged with implementing New York’s latest ivory laws has offered a few crumbs of comfort to art dealers and owners of antique ivory works of art.

A Portobello Road dealer, charged with the sale of an ivory carving police believed had contravened CITES rules, has won her case after a judge said it was up to the Crown to prove its age.

Embroiled in the debate regarding the rights and wrongs of selling elephant ivory works of art, Chiswick Auctions have become the first UK saleroom to stop almost all sales of ivory – regardless of age.

Magistrates have fined a West London auction house £3200 for breaching the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) (CITES) Regulations 1997.

A West London auction house is facing court, charged with the sale of a modern elephant ivory carving under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) (CITES) Regulations 1997.

In the wake of calls for the destruction of antique ivory, The Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit is asking Londoners to bring in ‘family heirlooms’ made from elephant ivory and other endangered species.

New York is a step closer to adopting new restrictions on ivory after the State Assembly passed the bill to bar nearly all sales of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.

Wide-ranging bill to end sales already given unanimous backing at the initial stage

Leading specialists in the trade are actively seeking a solution that supports the ban on ivory without destroying valuable artefacts created often hundreds of years ago.

A ban on the commercial trade in elephant ivory “except in a very limited number of circumstances” announced by the USA this month promises far-reaching consequences for the antiques trade.

The British Antique Dealers’ Association, LAPADA and the National Antique and Art Dealers’ Association of America are taking the February 11 White House statement on ivory very seriously.

New rules governing trade in the parts of endangered species will hit the antiques trade harder than first thought.

THE State of California has recently begun to strictly enforce a law banning the sale of ivory regardless of age. Dealers and auctioneers offering antiques made from ivory or including ivory among their constituent parts have had merchandise seized.

THE ban on selling rhino horn trophies, scheduled for introduction over the next couple of months, has been brought into force with immediate effect.

Just days after Sotheby’s announced the sale of a 16th century ivory mask and five other works from the Kingdom of Benin, the auctioneers said they have been withdrawn.

BRINGING out the bidders in Banbury, this Indian Mughal carved ivory khandjar handle sold for £24,000 at Holloways' latest sale.

A CHALK drawing of an ‘elephant graveyard’ appeared earlier this month at the entrance to the Portobello Road Market. The three-dimensional pavement art depicting an elephant carcass was the work of representatives for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), who in recent years have singled out the weekly antiques market in its campaign to curb the illegal trade in modern elephant ivory.

EBAY are to ban the sale of ivory products on its USA site from January.