The Art Law & More blog from Boodle Hatfield reported on 31st July that a British university professor who relocated to New Zealand was horrified to discover the ivory keys on his antique piano will be buried by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. He had bought the 123-year-old piano for his wife as a birthday present and brought it with him from England in 2017. However, the piano was seized in accordance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Now the piano has been stripped of its keys, as deemed to be in contravention of the country’s ivory laws, and they will be buried and the professor has been ordered to pay the cost of removing the ivory and collecting the piano together with a third administrative fee.
