A dealer who tried to sell an elephant tusk at Christie’s has been spared a fine after claiming he was “misled” by their antiques experts.

Barry Collins, 64, said he was given the “completely wrong advice” when he took the ivory to be offered for sale by the prestigious auctioneers.

Experts at Christie’s assessed the Indian tusk, mounted on a silver pedestal, as having been crafted in about 1880 and valued it at between £1,200 and £1,800.

The company, which was founded in 1776, then offered it for sale on their website and in a catalogue without obtaining the necessary paperwork to exempt it from strict EU guidelines on endangered species, the court heard.

It was fined £3,250 – said to be an “absolute drop in the ocean” – on May 23 (see here for article re Christie’s fine) after pleading guilty to one count of the “prohibited offering for sale of a specimen” at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court.

Source: The Telegraph

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