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Originally Posted by Rick
Would this ship without Customs inspection within the E.U. ?
Anyone ?
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It wouldn't slip past me that's for sure.
And I seriously doubt that a lot of other CITES M.A.s' wouldn't spot it either, but I guess it depends on the country and how well they're staffed. Here in DK, a long heavy package would already be marked by the customs officials, due to our draconian weapons legislation, and as such warrant closer inspection.
I think in this case, it's just a mess-up on Christies' account. After all, the headline do clearly say 'ivory' and they have that paragraph on CITES.
Often I fear more for my fellow collectors ordering from smaller dealers and Ebay-sellers. 'Bone', 'Fish tooth', 'Exotic horn' 'I*o*y', etc., may fool the rabid animal-right hippies trawling the net for eeeeevil traders in poor animals, but it will not fool a CITES-inspection at the border.
Without that CITES-export permit in the package (and in the case of Appendix I/Annex A material, a corresponding import-permit) it's bye-bye awesome sword or keris, and it's then gone for good. It's especially stupid and sad, since these things that we love mostly predate 1947 and as such are
perfectly legal to trade in. There is no excuse for not getting that permit, but sheer lazyness or simply being too stingy with ones buyer.
Geeting back OT, hooooly crap that is an awesome sword!! One day when I'm rich, I'll be getting me one of those ivory jungayans for myself!
All the best, - Thor