Chandigarh's heritage chair up for auction in Italy

Chandigarh, September 7

A heritage desk chair with wooden structure from the UT will go under the hammer in Italy on September 20. The furniture is likely to fetch Rs 2.37 lakh in the auction to be held by Cambi Auction House, Genoa, Italy.

In a letter to the Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, New Delhi, Ajay Jagga, member, Heritage Protection Cell, Chandigarh, stated in addition to his earlier submissions in respect of his “petition for protection of national heritage (Chandigarh heritage articles) from being auctioned all over the world”, a chair is going to be auctioned in Italy by an auction house, without any resistance from Government of India. The authorities say are not more than 75 years old, hence not antiquities.

However, he said, there was constitutional mandate, hence the need for proper regulations/rules for protection of nation’s heritage.

There was also a need to approach the embassy of Italy to raise objections with the authorities concerned to stop the auction of the item, which is most likely smuggled out of India, he added.