Endangered Species

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”.

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.

Stakeholders in the art market are being asked to participate in a project seeking to gauge the effect of a total ban on the sale of ivory works of art in the UK.

Following a long legal battle, London dealer Joost van den Bergh has successfully overturned a controversial customs decision to seize three rare 17th century ivories.

A London dealer has welcomed a new wide-ranging bill aimed at amending the law passed in the US last year banning the commercial trade in elephant ivory.

A leading CITES lawyer has criticised DEFRA’s “wholesale failure” to alert the public to law changes, after a court fined a jeweller £2000 for selling antique tiger claw pendants.

The law on tiger jewellery is frequently flouted. Last week on eBay – a site that operates a ban on antique ivory – several items of big cat jewellery were on sale from UK vendors.

“The ivory ban has been a right old dampener on the market as a whole but after taking time to consider its implications, collectors are coming back.”

This print ‘Unhappy Courtship’ by Dame Paula Rego (b.1935) is estimated at £2000-3000 at a charity sale being conducted by Roseberys.

A leading dealer in Japanese works of art says he will go out of business if sales of ivory in the UK are banned.

The Conservative Party Manifesto pledges to “press for a total ban on ivory sales” despite recent assurances from the Government that they would not damage the legitimate antiques trade.

Antique dealers, collectors, auctioneers and museum representatives gathered in Connecticut last month to oppose a bill seeking a total and uncompromising ban on the sale of ivory.

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.

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.

The BBC’s Antiques Roadshow will show fewer ivory objects in future programmes, but has stopped short of banning the valuation of antique ivory on screen.