Materials that cannot cross any border
The works that get seized at customs are rarely the expensive ones.
Applies to every corridor, in both directions, regardless of value, age or artistic importance.
Why this catches people
Most buyers think about restrictions in terms of value and importance. Is this work significant enough that a government will stop it leaving? That is the export licensing question, and it is real.
This is a different question, and it has nothing to do with importance. It is about what the object is made of.
International trade in endangered species is governed by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Its restrictions attach to materials. A modest decorative object worth a few thousand can be seized where a major painting worth millions passes without comment.
The materials that appear in art and decorative arts
Elephant ivory. By far the most common problem. It appears in sculpture, inlay, netsuke, miniature portraits, instrument fittings, cane and fan handles, chess sets and cabinet detailing.
Marine turtle shell, usually called tortoiseshell. Boxes, combs, inlay, and veneer on furniture and small objects.
Rhinoceros horn. Carvings, particularly libation cups.
Certain corals, including black and red coral, in jewellery and decorative objects.
Rosewoods. Brazilian rosewood is the most restricted, and other Dalbergia species carry controls. This affects furniture, frames, instruments and boxes, and it is the one people almost never think about, because it looks like ordinary wood.
Whale products, including scrimshaw and baleen. Some feathers, skins and shells also carry controls.
What the rules actually do
CITES sorts species into appendices. For the most restricted, commercial international trade is generally prohibited outright. For others, trade is permitted but requires permits issued before the object moves.
There are exemptions for genuinely antique worked specimens in some jurisdictions, but they are narrower than people assume, they vary by country, and they require documentation you must obtain in advance.
Several countries go further than CITES. The United Kingdom's ivory legislation imposes near-total restrictions with only narrow exemptions, stricter than the Convention requires. India prohibits domestic ivory trade under its own wildlife legislation. Checking CITES alone is not enough. You must check the national law at both ends of the corridor.
The part that costs people their purchase
Permits cannot be obtained retrospectively. If the object ships without the right documentation and is intercepted, the usual outcome is seizure. Not a fine and release. Seizure.
You will have paid the hammer price and the premium. You may have no recourse against the auction house, because conditions of sale typically place responsibility for export and import compliance on the buyer.
That is the whole risk in one sentence: you can lose both the object and the money.
What the auction house does and doesn't tell you
Reputable houses flag restricted materials in the catalogue, often with a symbol and a note. Read those notes. They are easy to scroll past.
But a flag is not clearance. The note tells you a restriction may apply. It does not tell you whether a permit will be granted for your particular corridor, how long it takes, or whether your destination country has its own stricter rules. That is your problem to solve, before you bid. Be aware too that a house may decline to ship a flagged lot internationally at all, leaving you to arrange it yourself.
Before you bid
- Read the full lot description and every symbol in the catalogue key.
- If any restricted material is present or possible, ask the specialist directly and in writing what it is.
- Check the rules at both ends, origin and destination, and check national law rather than CITES alone.
- Confirm whether a permit is obtainable for your route, and how long it takes, before the sale.
- If a work is unattributed as to material and you cannot get a straight answer, treat that as a no.
- Never ship first and resolve documentation later.
Where to check
To confirm before this brief is published.
- Current CITES appendices and the listing status of each material above. Source: the CITES Secretariat.
- The management authority in each country you deal with, meaning the body that issues export and import permits.
- National legislation stricter than CITES in your main corridors, in particular the UK ivory regime, EU rules on worked specimens, United States wildlife import requirements, Indian wildlife legislation, and UAE requirements.
Sources last checked: not yet.