8th October 2010, 10:22 AM
The story has definitely generated plenty of buzz and opinion. I had an enlightening chat with a PAS officer regarding the helmet. Right, wrong or indifferent, the helmet has drawn interest from Saudi princes, private collectors, and American museums etc. The interest has driven up the value of the object and makes it incredibly difficult for the Cumbrian museum to obtain the piece. There have been similar instances regarding the difficulties involved in keeping valuable art objects in the UK. I thought peeps might be interested in the following excerpt from a recent BBC news article I came across:
“If the buyer plans to take the helmet overseas, they would need to apply for an export licence. Applications can be referred to an expert adviser and if they believe the item is of national importance, it can be passed on to a reviewing committee.
If that body considers it meets criteria, it can recommend to the Secretary of State that an export licence is deferred to allow a matching offer to be made to keep the object in the UK.”
Interesting! I’m sure there will be more regarding this story in the near future.
“If the buyer plans to take the helmet overseas, they would need to apply for an export licence. Applications can be referred to an expert adviser and if they believe the item is of national importance, it can be passed on to a reviewing committee.
If that body considers it meets criteria, it can recommend to the Secretary of State that an export licence is deferred to allow a matching offer to be made to keep the object in the UK.”
Interesting! I’m sure there will be more regarding this story in the near future.