Art & Cultural Property

Fountain Court members have been involved in numerous significant matters involving art, antiques, jewellery, rare cars and many other valuable items.

Our expertise in this sector spans numerous practice areas including professional negligence, commercial disputes, insurance, commercial crime and civil fraud.

Members act on cases involving issues of authenticity and provenance, ownership and title issues and intellectual property-related claims. They have also advised various entities including auction houses on professional duties, procedures and regulatory obligations. Our track record in cases relating to conflicts of law and jurisdiction also complements our work in this sector along with our employment expertise.

Some examples of our work can be found below but our wider experience includes cases relating to artworks by famous artists including Yayoi Kusama, Banksy, Robert Indiana and Hondecoeter, photographs allegedly by Marcel Duchamp, a collection of gold coins, an £11 million Ferrari 375 which won the 1954 British Grand Prix, French 18th century urns, art deco furniture, Rodin’s Le Penseur, sports memorabilia, art dealer and fraudster Inigo Philbrick and rare musical instruments.

Our work includes cases relating to:

• Professional negligence and misrepresentation claims
• Authenticity and provenance disputes
• Ownership and title disputes
• Intellectual property matters including licensing issues
• Fraud and commercial crime claims
• Regulatory and legislative issues
• Insurance-related claims