MADAM – I was glad to see Mike Jeanes’ letter about ivory insulators on 1920s teapots (ATG No 2273). I fear the whole government consultation will be dominated by the mechanics of certificates to sell, and whether these will cost £30 or £120, lasting three months or three years.
If you are a BADA dealer or a national auction house, you can come to terms with such a settlement. But the vast majority of worked ivory, or rosewood veneer, is attached to items with a value of £100 down to a fiver, passing through hands who cannot tell whether it is ivory or bone, rosewood or mahogany.
We need a de minimis rule to exclude such items from restrictions on sale, based on the value of the item and the weight or volume of suspected offending material involved.