9 Chandigarh heritage items sold for Rs 1.45 crore

Chandigarh, November 28

As many as nine heritage items of the city were auctioned for Rs 1.45 crore by Oise Encheres at Saint Ouen in France on November 19.

Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Items Protection Cell, Chandigarh Administration, said the artefacts, which were designed by Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier included a classroom chair, a set of two armchairs, an office chair, a set of two tabourets, a set of two lounge armchairs, a black teak salon set, a storage furniture, a basse chauffeuse dite and a teak veneer desk.

Black teak salon set fetches Rs 36.53L

A black teak salon set designed by Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbursier fetched the highest amount of Rs 36.53 lakh during the auction conducted by Oise Encheres at Saint Ouen in France on November 19.

Seeking investigation into the auction of the Chandigarh heritage items in France, in a communication to Nathalie Chanvallon, Judicial Police Officer, Paris (France), Jagga stated that during her visit to Chandigarh with the French delegation in November 2022, they discussed the matter of illegal sale of Chandigarh heritage articles and decided to share information regarding auction of Chandigarh articles in France. “So as to track the transactions and reach the bottom of this network, which has taken the goods out of India, despite orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. However, on November 19, an auction house in France sold off nine lots for Euro 1,58,300,” he stated.