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 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.