Destroying artwork

[silberschatzimsee]

https://www.antiquestradegazette.com...ivory-seizure/

[asomotif]

Here the text, in case the link might dissapear in future.
Interesting info, I was not aware of this CITES 2013 guidelines.

The guideline makes some sense. But do they really think a barometer antique dealer is part of illegal Ivory smuggling and than offers for sale a piece of antique Ivory to blow his cover ?
Sad sad sad waste of police work.

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Clocks and barometer specialist Russ Allen, who runs Steam Mill Clocks, told ATG that 10 officers were involved in the seizure last month when he was arrested and bailed. It is believed a member of the public alerted Derbyshire police to the bronze mounted ivory thermometer that he had offered for sale online.

The incident has now been resolved with the police via a community resolution which enforced the seizure of the item.

Allen, who was represented by solicitor Bill Soughton at Johnson Partnership in Nottingham, was interviewed at Chesterfield Police Station by a local police officer and an officer from the Wildlife Crime Unit. The thermometer is an antique and pre-1947, but it is insufficiently worked under the amended 2013 CITES guidelines and therefore not legal to sell.

Alert Trade

Allen had not realised the item was not deemed worked and now hopes to alert other dealers to the regulation surrounding ivory. He said: “The trade need to be aware. We must stick together and pool our combined expertise to the benefit as a whole. The endangered species legislation is not going away and I suspect that it is going to get much stricter.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed a community resolution, which is used for less serious offences or anti-social behaviour, had been agreed and the item seized.

Maggie Campbell Pedersen, The Gemmological Association of Great Britain president and author of the 2015 book Ivory, said the December 2013 guidance changes on worked and unworked ivory had not been “widely enough publicised”.

“Simply to polish and mount an elephant tusk is no longer sufficient. It must now be carved on most of its surface to be considered ‘worked’.”

Allen said at the time of the police swoop, the police arrived “in a transit van and with CID and plain clothes policeman”.

He added: “The search warrant authorised the search and seizure of computers, telephones and bank records, the loss of which is bound to have significant consequences to anyone engaged in legitimate business. The police action is draconian and it makes me wonder how many perfectly legitimate and honest dealers are putting themselves unknowingly at risk.”

[silberschatzimsee]

For me this is all BS and has something of a witch hunt and public burning of books.

They should take countermeasurements with hefty punisments to prevent the elephants getting slaughtered in Africa instead of harrasing collectors and playing the political correctness card with the effect of nothing.
I think in reality 95% of all collectors are against contemporary elephant hunting.

Anyway i bet a lot of "mammuth-ivory" will pass the customs and hit the markets in south east asia.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by silberschatzimsee

For me this is all BS and has something of a witch hunt and public burning of books.

They should take countermeasurements with hefty punisments to prevent the elephants getting slaughtered in Africa instead of harrasing collectors and playing the political correctness card with the effect of nothing.
I think in reality 95% of all collectors are against contemporary elephant hunting.

Anyway i bet a lot of "mammuth-ivory" will pass the customs and hit the markets in south east asia.

Very well said! Agree complete with you.

[mariusgmioc]

What about the ivory scales of antique weapons?

In the vast majority, the hilts are simply polished, not carved.

Does this mean that all aantique weapons featuring simply polished ivory must be destroyed?!

Does this mean that all Ottoman Kilij swords with rhino hilts should be confiscated and destroyed?!

What about grand-granny's cutlery that has been in the family for 150 years?! Should it be confiscated and desrtoyed if put on sale?

Am I missing something?

[A. G. Maisey]

Pure insanity.

The information I have been given by a good friend living in the USA seems to indicate that at least some of the states in the USA are poised to become even worse than this matter reported to us by Asomotif. Indeed, he anticipates the situation to become so threatening that he gave me his collection of antique ivory keris hilts in order to avoid their possible destruction.

When I hear of the anti-ivory things going on in some parts of the world, the thing that always comes into my mind is antique musical instruments and religious artifacts.

Can we expect to see this entire segment of western material culture destroyed in the future?

[Laowang]

The United States has banned the sale of African elephant ivory across state lines; California has gone further and banned the sale of all ivory, no matter what the original animal, within the state.

In both cases, antiques (100 years or older) and musical instruments (manufactured before 1975) are exempted. Of course, the burden of proof is on the seller, unfortunately. This will make it more difficult to sell legitimate antiques, and legitimate antique ivory caught up in enforcement may indeed be destroyed if customs authorities are uncertain.

That being said, it's pretty difficult to enforce prohibitions of sale across state lines. There aren't any customs inspections as you cross from one state to the next, by air or land. The mail isn't inspected.

To anticipate the authorities entering one's home and seizing antique ivory weapons is a little far-fetched. Perhaps some distrust of the government is warranted, given historical fact, but it seems a little paranoid to think you are at risk for owning ethnographic weapons with antique ivory.