20 Chandigarh heritage items to go under hammer in France

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Chandigarh, October 1

As many as 20 heritage furniture items from the city will go under the hammer in France on October 4. The artefacts designed by Pierre Jeanneret, include a desk, sofa, lounge chairs, 10 box chairs, table, storage cabinet, committee chairs, library chairs, bench, easy chairs, screen, three stools, three high stools, coffee table, committee armchairs etc.

Artefacts at stake

A desk, sofa, lounge chairs, 10 box chairs, table, storage cabinet, committee chairs, library chairs, bench, easy chairs, screen, three stools, three high stools, coffee table, committee armchairs

In a letter to Jawed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to France, Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Items Protection Cell of the Chandigarh Administration, stated he was submitting this communication as an advance intimation in order to stop the auction of national heritage from being auctioned, as mandated in the Constitution of India, under Article 49.

He said heritage articles were being auctioned frequently in foreign countries without much resistance from the Indian Government. The auction houses had even starting declaring identification marks. At least 20 items would be sold in France by an auction house, Piasa.

“The matter needs to be probed as to how the heritage items of the city have been taken abroad despite prohibitory orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs,” he said.