Endangered Species

As our next Prime Minister negotiates our exit from the EU from September, she/he will have many pressing priorities. In this 'letter' the industry sets out its own priorities in the hope of relief from the red tape that bedevils our sector

Joseph Chait, 38, of the IM Chait gallery and auction house in Beverly Hills, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison after admitting he conspired to smuggle items of rhino horn, ivory and coral.

The rising tide of regulation against ivory, and the consequent threat to the trade in antiques, was a principal subject of debate at last month’s CINOA conference in Paris.

Art market stakeholders are being invited to take part in an online questionnaire on ivory.

The ‘final rule’ of the US law on African elephant ivory, due to come into force on July 6, puts state and federal laws in contradiction, says a leading specialist.

The ‘final rule’ of the US law on African elephant ivory is due to come into force on July 6. Here ATG’s lists the key points of the legislation including where exemptions apply.

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles heard the opening salvos in a legal challenge to California’s uncompromising law that bans the sale of practically all ivory objects – including those fashioned from narwhal and walrus tusks and sperm whale teeth.

Leaders of art and antiques trade bodies from key markets are due to discuss the rising tide of regulation against ivory, and the consequent threat to the trade of antique ivory, when they meet at the annual gathering international dealers in Paris later this week.

A leading CITES lawyer is warning that UK auctioneers and dealers risk hefty fines due to widespread confusion over the rules controlling the sale of antique ivory.

Another firm has been fined for breaching CITES regulations. South Lanarkshire auctioneers LS Smellie and Son were fined £1500 earlier this month for offering three items of unworked ivory for sale last year.

French art market associations have protested at environment minister Ségolène Royal’s plan to push for “a ban on any kind of ivory trade in France”.

A series of antique weapons were sold by Bonhams earlier this month missing their ivory elements after the items had been surrendered to the UK’s Border Force.

Christie’s have admitted to “an honest and genuine mistake” by putting up for sale an ivory and kutch silver trophy that contravened CITES regulations.

A dozen protesters dressed as elephants gathered outside Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury last week to demonstrate against the sale of ivory at the firm’s Asian art sale.

Joseph Chait, a 38-year-old senior auction administrator with IM Chait gallery and auction house in Beverly Hills, has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to smuggle items of rhino horn, ivory, coral and a hornbill casque.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service have announced a new programme to “help reduce the overall ivory market”.

Four London dealers were made to deface valuable antiques after they imported objects into the US without declaring their ivory content.

Hong Kong is to tighten its rules on ivory.

Ivory collectors in California are suing the state in the hope of overturning restrictive legislation that comes in to force on July 1 this year.

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”.