Law, crime and regulation

An antique narwhal tusk that faced destruction following a dispute over paperwork has been returned to its owner after a judge ruled its confiscation by customs had been “unreasonable”.

Senior figures from both UK dealing associations gave an impassioned defence of the antiques trade as a project seeking to gauge the impact of a ban on the sale of ivory works of art was launched in Westminster last week.

In response to the new Consumer Rights Act, the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers have produced two different versions of their model terms and conditions – one for bricks and mortar ‘onsite’ auctions and another for online-only sales.

The German Cultural Property and Heritage Protection Law (Kulturschutzgesetz) is due to be debated in the German Bundestag next spring after a “defused” draft of the law received cabinet approval on November 4.

A late 18th century bust of the Goddess Diana which was looted from the Royal Lazienki Palace in Warsaw by the Nazis has been returned to Poland after emerging at auction in Vienna.

“There are 12 symbols in the Chinese language for the word fake – and each means something slightly different”.

Police are appealing for help from the antiques trade to trace two men captured on CCTV at the scene of a watches burglary in London.

Police are investigating the theft of a distinctive painting from a house in the Old Town, Hastings.

Staff at The Swan at Tetsworth say it is ‘business as usual’ despite the dramatic ram-raid at the Oxfordshire antiques centre last weekend.

Thieves who target cultural property or items of great sentimental value will face tougher sentences under new rules.

Stakeholders in the Italian art market will meet lawmakers this week in the hope of overturning legislation they say has hampered the country’s art market for a century.

A new law giving online auction buyers additional consumer protection rights has been criticised for throwing dealers and auction houses into a legal grey area.

A bizarre story of an artist who claimed her old studio sold pieces of paint spattered carpet as her original work has appeared in the press recently, drawing attention to the thorny issue of copyright and false attribution.

The Law Commission is still keen to hear from collectors and dealers about the impact a legal definition of ‘antique firearm’ may have on the trade in period weapons.

An American businessman has been charged in a New York court accused of applying improper valuations to items sold from his art and antiques collection.

Victoria Borwick MP has pledged to lobby against possible changes in legislation that could adversely affect the art and antiques trade, telling the industry to “see me as your champion in parliament”.

Valuable paintings stolen in a violent raid at a Somerset estate in 2009 have been returned to their original owners after being recovered by private investigators.

Police have released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in connection with a theft at the Masterpiece fair held in July at the Royal Hospital site in Chelsea.

The Metropolitan Police has appealed to readers of ATG to contact them if they are offered two Georgian porcelain cups and saucer sets stolen from Osterley Park House, London in July.

Dealers, collectors and auctioneers of antique firearms are being invited to a meeting in London to discuss proposed changes to the law governing the sale and ownership of such weapons.