Glossary Collecting and the antiquities trade
Export licence
Also called: export permit, export license
An official permit allowing an antiquity to leave its country of origin; in Cyprus, issued by the Department of Antiquities from 1935.
Most states that claim ownership of antiquities prohibit their export without a permit. For a collector or museum, a surviving licence or permit number is among the strongest proofs that an object left its country lawfully, because it can be checked against the records of the issuing authority.
In Cyprus, export needed the High Commissioner's written permission under the Antiquities Law of 1905, and from 1935 a licence from the Director of Antiquities. Licensed dealers submitted pieces for licences, and registered private collections could be exported by permit. Since 1996 licences are granted only for temporary exhibition or scientific study. Objects taken from the occupied north after the invasion of 1974 carried at best documents that did not survive inspection, since only the Republic's Department of Antiquities could issue a valid licence.
Full entry: The Legal Export of Cypriot Antiquities
Related terms
- Lead export tag
A small lead seal wired to an antiquity by the Cypriot authorities to mark it as approved for lawful export.
- Licensed dealer
A trader authorised by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities to buy and sell antiquities, a lawful role from 1935 until dealing was banned in 1996.
- Antiquities Law (Cyprus)
The Cypriot statute governing excavation, ownership, dealing and export of antiquities, first enacted in 1905 and recast in 1935.
- Department of Antiquities (Cyprus)
The government body responsible for the archaeology, museums and ancient monuments of Cyprus, created by the Antiquities Law of 1935.
Where it appears
- How Many Cypriot Antiquities Left the Island Lawfully?
- EU and UK Rules for Cypriot Antiquities: Export, Import and Return in Europe Today
- Licensed Export from the Republic of Cyprus, 1974 to 1996
- The Cyprus Museum Saleroom: The State's Own Sales of 'Duplicate' Antiquities, 1920s to 1991
- Illicit Digging under British Rule, 1878 to 1960
- Petros Kolokasides: A Licensed Dealer in Nicosia
- Cypriot Antiquities in the Internet Era: Online Sales, Platforms and Checking a History Online
- Licensed Dealers and Registered Collections: The 1935 System and Its Record, to 1974
- The Antiquities Laws of 1905 and 1935
- Collecting Cypriot Antiquities Today: Law, Provenance and Due Diligence
- Documenting a Lawful History: How to Show a Cypriot Antiquity Left the Island Lawfully
- Northern Types with Lawful Histories: Vounous, Lapithos, Enkomi and Salamis Material Abroad
and 27 more compendium pages