7 Chandigarh heritage items fetch Rs 69 lakh in US

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Chandigarh, April 12

Seven heritage items from the city went under the hammer in the US yesterday. The articles fetched Rs 69.18 lakh.

Heavy demand in UK, US

Architect Le Corbusier’s cousin Pierre Jeanneret designed the entire furniture for the city. Now, this Jeanneret-designed furniture is in heavy demand in the UK, the US and Europe.

Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Items Protection Cell of the Chandigarh Administration, said Wright, an auction house of Chicago, US, conducted the auction of seven items — an occasional table, a coffee table, a set of eight office cane chairs, a floor lamp, a pair of armless easy chairs, a pair of office cane chairs and a set of desk and a stool on April 11. A set of eight office cane chairs fetched the highest amount of Rs 21.02 lakh, he added.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Minister for Culture G Kishanreddy and others, Jagga stated that Wright auctioned the Indian heritage despite the fact that the Ministry Home Affairs has banned the movement of the goods beyond Chandigarh in 2011.

Architect Le Corbusier’s cousin Pierre Jeanneret designed the entire furniture for the city. Now, this Jeanneret-designed furniture is in heavy demand in the UK, the US and Europe. It must be examined that the declaration of Chandigarh heritage articles as “art treasure” will ensure a ban on its export.