Stolen art databases

ArtClaim, a new database launched in London this week to track lost, disputed and stolen cultural objects, promises new ways of identifying and recording interests attached to works of art.

Talks have begun once more on creating a national stolen property database to tackle the £300m problem of heritage and cultural property crime.

EDITOR’S COMMENT – In 2001, I had the privilege of being the first journalist to quiz the then arts minister, Alan Howarth, on recommendations submitted by an expert panel investigating measures for tackling the illicit trade in cultural goods.

IN a fresh attempt to help the fight against the illicit art trade, the international police organisation Interpol has made its database of stolen art available to access online.

THE online registry of valuables Swift-Find have taken over the Trace database of stolen art and antiques. It means Invaluable are no longer conducting Due Diligence as part of their online services for auctioneers, dealers and collectors.

SWIFT-Find, the international registry of valuable items, have bought the Trace stolen valuables database from the Invaluable Group.

AGAINST a flurry of publicity on the subject, online registry of stolen valuables Swift-Find.com has launched a new initiative to help identify and reclaim Nazi looted art.

HOPES of establishing a national database of stolen art have taken a significant step forward. MPs on the parliamentary committee who recommended the database be set up three years ago gave the project a new boost after publicly criticising the Government for failing to act despite promises to do so.

HOPES of finalising a draft of proposals for developing the new Home Office database for beating art crime by the beginning of October have not been realised. It now appears that it will be at least another two months before the proposals can be submitted to the parliamentary committee looking into them for assessment.

France’s Syndicat National des Antiquaires (National Dealers' Association) has called on the French government to reject the Unidroit convention, which enforces strict rules on the restitution of stolen art.

SIX years after a gang stole part of the Luton Hoo Fabergé collection, a new police database succeeded in trapping one of the thieves.

UK: THE net surrounding the UK’s illicit art and antiquities trade has tightened with the Government signing up to an international convention to return stolen artefacts to their rightful owners.

UK: THE Art and Antiques Helpline, a seven-day-a-week service which will give access to one of the most comprehensive databases of stolen art and antiques, is to come into operation this summer.