It's hard for anyone other than an expert to tell if it's antique, or modern. And even then, the signs of it being an antique can be faked. That's the concern.
@@TheYuleTube For those collectors and dealers in the antique trade it is 99% of the time obvious if something is antique (pre 1947) or fake. If unsure about the authenticity of an item then walk away, previous legislation worked fine, it just needed to be enforced.
The implementation of the law basically stopped me from being able to collect portrait miniatures at all. I live in Canada and getting the export and import license just blew away any chance for me to collect. Not to mention the complication of buying interesting ones at auction in England and getting them shipped here. Especially in the market value I feel comfortable spending in. The 500-1000 pound range.
Portrait miniatures are OK. Interesting. Where I am, in CT, I don't think they carved out any exceptions unless you're selling to a museum. Musical instruments and antique furniture...maybe. The idjuts also banned the sale of fossil ivory. So we don't kill any more wooly mammoth. (eyeroll)
I also live in the US, and my understanding is that all Ivory is able to be sold, *IF* it is old enough and that age can be proven. Proving it is a tricky thing, unless you have some sort of expert involved, or some sort of strong provenance.
Good to know. So under 30cm² is allowed? Does that include an ivory frame? I bought one a couple of years ago. Painted on ivory and in an ivory frame (paid 75 cents for it).
Good thing then, that I paid very little money for it. In total it measures 12,5 x 14,5 cm, so it can't be sold in that size. It has a tiny bit of mother of pearl inlay, but that doesn't really make a difference.@@DavidHarperAntiquesTV
