ONBOARD Magazine summer 2019

KNOW YOUR
ARTWORK
Pandora Mather-Lees discusses fine art export sanctions
and the associated risks with crossing international
borders without the relevant paperwork
In August 2015 Sailing Yacht ADIX
was arrested in Corsica against
a backdrop of media attention
and a Picasso masterpiece which
had been adorning the interior was
confiscated. Until this time, few
in the industry would have been
aware of the implications of cultural
heritage laws for captains, crew
or indeed the yacht management
companies.
The painting in question now sits in Madrid National Museum
and the owner, Jaime Botin, faced up to 4 years in prison and
a potential €100m smuggling fine. In most cases the objects
are simply confiscated on the spot and subsequently destroyed
or unceremoniously disposed of. It is unclear how many such
incidents concerning superyachts have evaded the Press,
however with increasingly valuable artworks on board, these
itinerant floating homes entering new territories are forming a
rich picking ground for customs and international authorities.
National treasure laws exist in developed territories to preserve
its nation’s heritage for future generations; a kind of anchor
for our place in history and a means by which we inform our
past. Objects may have significant fiscal as well as cultural
value, and countries are becoming more protective and even
aggressive in their bid to win objects back. In some cases this
has created diplomatic incidents.
Each territory has its own thresholds, standards and rules. In
the UK, the Waverley Committee established three principles
in the 1950s. This Arts Council committee decides whether an
object marked for export is of outstanding aesthetic beauty,
of critical importance for study and educational purposes or
whether it represents a valuable part of the nation’s history.
Lawrence of Arabia’s dagger, Jane Austen’s Ring and Canova’s
Three Graces were refused export licences for such reasons
and English museums and philanthropists were sought to match
the sale price to compensate the new foreign owner so that
they can remain in the UK. Even if granted the right to leave the
country, licences have been revoked. In a recent extraordinary
case, Italy revoked its licence for a painting of Camille Borghese
sent to the Frick Collection in Manhattan. Italian authorities
claimed “they did not know at the time the sitter was Borghese”
despite the fact that there was a clearly marked label to this
effect on the reverse! Understanding documentation relating
to items on board is thus critical especially when onboarding
new pieces of any value.
Endangered species
Such laws are just one of the export sanctions risks that
captains and chief stews must be trained to field. Endangered
species is another. ‘CITES’ regulations were established when
182 countries signed up to the Washington Convention in
1973 to control the movement across borders of what now
amounts to 36,000 species and growing. These include coral,
ivory, rosewood, butterflies and any number of oddities that
have ended up aboard luxury vessels.
Superyachts have been impounded for something as innocuous
as a fish skeleton to something as ridiculous as a butterfly
painting by artist Damian Hirst. Industry anecdotes also
include one rock musician’s rosewood guitar, another’s grand
piano for its ivory and an owner’s inlaid cabinet where the
ivory was hacked out Why are these laws in place and why are
110 | SUMMER 2019 | ONBOARD