Cash sought to stop crowns going abroad

Art watchdogs are attempting to prevent the export of three crowns once worn by sovereigns of England.

The silver frames of the imperial state crown of George I (from 1715) and the coronation crowns of George IV (1821) and Queen Adelaide (1831), stripped of their jewels, are up for sale.

The Heritage minister Lord Inglewood yesterday announced the deferment of decisions on export licence applications by the owners, the London art dealers Asprey, while buyers in Britain are sought.

Minimum prices for British-based buyers are set at pounds 576,000 for the George I crown, pounds 376,000 for the George IV one, and pounds 425,000 for Queen Adelaide's.

A museum could apply to the National Heritage Memorial Fund for lottery money to buy them and keep them on public display in Britain.

The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art strongly urged that "every effort" should be made to raise the necessary funds. But if cash cannot be found the crowns could yet be put on sale, probably at the October 1996 International Antique Dealers Fair in New York.

Although the George I crown was displayed as part of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London in the 18th and early 19th century, neither it nor the other two now forms part of the British regalia. It seems likely that all three were kept by Rundell's, the royal goldsmiths, when the stones were removed in the 1820s and 1830s. Rundell's dispersed its stock by sale and auction in 1842-3.

All three frames entered the ownership of William Daniel-Tyssen, an MP, distinguished bibliophile and collector, who became Baron Amherst of Hackney in 1892. Asprey acquired them from dealers in 1987 and now wants to take them to New York for sale.

"It has always been our wish that these things should be kept in Britain," Asprey antiques director Charles Truman said. he said "a number of institutions including the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert", had been approached.