“As an active conservationist, nothing could be more welcome to me than an initiative to save one of our most charismatic animals from a relentless road to extinction. But not dissimilar sensibilities apply to the proposal that antique ivory should become outlawed too.
“A ban on the heinous trade in poached ivory should not mean that a thousand years of culture and history be outlawed with it. In our areas of specialisation – portraiture – it is particularly poignant.