What Collectors Need to Know When Buying Art and Antiquities Abroad

We all want to bring back some memento from our trips abroad, and why not a piece of fine or decorative art? It’s a tempting idea, but proceed with caution. You might legally buy something that you aren’t permitted legally to take out of the country—which you may only discover once you reach U.S. Customs. To wit: Manhattan lawyer William G. Pearlstein, who represents a number of collectors, was contacted in 2009 by a client returning from a trip to the Middle East who had bought “I don’t know what you’d call it...