Two Chandigarh heritage items fetch Rs 47.51L at Paris auction

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 30

Two heritage furniture items from the city were sold for Rs47.51 lakh during an auction in Paris, France, on October 27.

Four heritage items designed by French architect Pierre Jeanneret were to be auctioned but only two went under the hammer in the auction conducted by auction house Cornette De Saint.

Two products remained unsold

• Four heritage items designed by French architect Pierre Jeanneret were to be auctioned but only two went under the hammer in the auction conducted by auction house Cornette De Saint.
• The items auctioned were a pair of “easy” armchairs in teak and wicker and a set of six “office” armchairs, also in teak and wicker.
• The items that remained unsold were a daybed in teak and cowhide and a pair of “advocate” armchairs.

The items auctioned were a pair of “easy” armchairs in teak and wicker and a set of six “office” armchairs, also in teak and wicker.

The items that remained unsold were a daybed in teak and cowhide and a pair of “advocate” armchairs.

In a letter to UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore, Ajay Jagga, member, Heritage Protection Cell, Chandigarh, stated that after the auction of 10 heritage items in London, the matter regarding the Paris auction was conveyed to French officials. “We will have to follow certain official procedures for taking up the matter of cultural trafficking with the French Government,” he stated.

As per a list compiled by the Chandigarh Heritage Inventory Committee in 2012, there are 12,793 heritage items. A substantial number of these items is in the possession of the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, and a huge stock of chairs and tables is at the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat and Vidhan Sabha, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court.