Law, crime and regulation

A High Court judge has granted dealers and collectors permission to take their Ivory Act 2018 challenge to the Court of Appeal, a move that could delay the law’s enforcement into spring next year.

Sculptures of Buddha dating from the 4th-6th centuries smuggled out of Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago have finally been returned to the country’s national museum.

Christie’s has been praised for its stance on US tariffs on Chinese art after it became the first art market firm to seek exclusion from the tax, part of the ongoing trade war between the US and China. Late in October, Christie’s applied for exemption from a “punishing” import tax on seven types of Chinese art.

A High Court challenge by dealers and collectors to a new UK law ushering in a near-total ban on the antique ivory has failed, but an appeal is possible.

A draft bill recommending further reform to the French auction system has passed through the Senate in Paris.

A painting by British colourist Jeffrey Pratt (b.1940) was stolen from a private home in Surrey while the owners were away.

Local community groups across south London are calling on the antiques trade to be alert to Victorian animal troughs that have been stolen from four sites this autumn.

A collection of jewellery has been stolen from a London home and the family who owns them is hoping a member of the trade may spot one of the items if they are offered to them.

The government is hoping to find a buyer to pay £3.5m to keep an 18th century picture by Joseph Wright of Derby in the UK.

The government does not have to “show a causal connection” between the UK’s trade in antique ivory and the poaching of modern ivory, a barrister representing DEFRA said in court today.

“No reputable dealer wants to see elephants dead” was among the opening remarks by the QC acting for a group of dealers and collectors challenging the Ivory Act 2018, at the High Court today.

A change to EU law, requiring auction houses, dealers and agents in art and antiques to carry out checks on transactions and customers, will come into force in January 2020 – regardless of Brexit.