Law, crime and regulation

Legal cases, stolen art, regulation and tax issues remain important part of the art and antiques sector.

This category ranges from the levy of the Artist’s Resale Right to controversies over fakes and forgeries.


Tristram Lewis bronze

Frankie Dettori bronze stolen in smash and grab from Haynes Fine Art

08 October 2024

A Frankie Dettori bronze made to mark the jockey’s retirement from racing has been stolen from Haynes Fine Art in Pimlico Road, London.

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Sale of Goods or Limitation: which Act should take precedence for ownership?

07 October 2024

I was very interested (as always) to read the article by Milton Silverman in ATG No 2658 concerning the saga of the tile that had once belonged to the V&A museum.

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Ivory Act extension to pass ‘when time allows’

30 September 2024

The UK ban on the trade in antique scrimshaw and narwhal tusks has been delayed following the change of government.

Religious icon

Religious icon stolen from Cambridge college

27 September 2024

A religious icon has been stolen from the chapel of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Istock Metropolitan Police Sign

Important Assyrian artefact returned to Iraq after being held in UK for 22 years

25 September 2024

An ancient Assyrian artefact stolen from an archaeological site in Iraq in the early 1990s has been returned to the country after being stored for an extended period by the Metropolitan Police in London.

Ancient funerary couch

Getty Museum returns ancient bronze couch to Turkey

19 September 2024

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has returned an ancient bronze funerary couch to Turkey after concluding that it had been illicitly excavated in the early 1980s.

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A lawyer writes: Tale of a tile tussle sparked by ownership rights

02 September 2024

Islamic artefact about to appear at auction was once part of V&A collection

Lucas Cranach the Elder portrait

Christie’s to sell Cranach portrait after US museum and Jewish heirs make agreement over restitution

30 August 2024

A portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) and his workshop which has been in an American museum since the 1960s will be offered at Christie’s New York in January following an agreement between the institution and the heirs of a Jewish collector.

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Export bar placed on Alan Turing’s unpublished Second World War papers

20 August 2024

A remarkable archive of newly discovered scientific papers by the mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing and his collaborator Donald Bayley has been temporarily blocked from export.

2910 NE Spink Iron Age

Iron Age coin bearing the name of a hitherto unknown British ruler is blocked from export

16 August 2024

A temporary export bar has been placed on a British coin sold at auction that features the never-seen-before name Esunertos.

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Michael Jackson’s artwork pulled from Las Vegas sale at last minute

12 August 2024

A US auction house that was forced to halt the sale of a collection of drawings by King of Pop Michael Jackson (1958- 2009) at the last minute has said it fully intends to sell the works at a later date.

Scythian jewellery

Artefacts recovered and arrests made in Interpol art trafficking operation

30 July 2024

An Interpol operation has recovered more than 6400 objects and made 85 arrests across Europe

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Silver chalice stolen from Bedfordshire church

22 July 2024

A 1659 original silver chalice worth around £15,000 has been stolen from a church in Sutton, Bedfordshire.

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ATG letter: Policing will save ivory, not an antique trade ban

24 June 2024

Oh dear, here we go again (‘Crackdown on marine ivory trade: date revealed’, ATG No 2649).

Seminar set up to discuss challenge of new EU art import rules

24 June 2024

British trade associations concerned about impending EU legislation that will affect UK exports will brief dealers on the changes at a seminar in London on June 28.

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Defra to crack down on marine ivory trade

17 June 2024

The trade in most antique scrimshaw and narwhal tusks will effectively be banned in the UK in just over two months

German art VAT cut welcomed by dealers

17 June 2024

Art in Germany might be about to get a bit cheaper with the German government confirming it will cut the VAT on art sales from 19% to 7% in line with its import VAT.

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A lawyer writes: Anti-money laundering regulations are complicated but it is important to put in the time

10 June 2024

A longstanding client expressed his concerns to me about ensuring that he was doing everything right with regard to anti-money laundering and HMRC’s requirements.

Tefaf

Police recover more TEFAF stolen diamonds

10 June 2024

Police in the Netherlands have confirmed they have recovered two more diamonds stolen by armed robbers from The European Art Fair (TEFAF) in 2022.

Websit Christies

Christie’s reassures clients over personal data after cyber attack

10 June 2024

Christie’s says has it has seen no “evidence to suggest that personal information has been published or misused” following the cyber-attack that brought down its website.

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