Seven historic Chandigarh pieces sell for Rs 69 lakh in the US
Yesterday, seven pieces of municipal history pieces were auctioned off in the US. The articles brought in 69.18 lakh rupees.
Ajay Jagga, a representative of the Chandigarh Administration’s Heritage Items Protection Cell, stated that on April 11, seven items were put up for auction by Wright, a Chicago, US-based auction house. These items included an occasional table, a coffee table, eight office cane chairs, a floor lamp, two armless easy chairs, and a desk and stool set. He said that a set of eight office cane chairs brought in the highest price, which was Rs 21.02 lakh.
Wright auctioned off the Indian heritage, Jagga said in a letter to Union Minister for Culture G Kishanreddy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and others, even though the Ministry of Home Affairs had prohibited the objects’ transportation beyond Chandigarh in 2011.
The whole city’s furnishings was created by Pierre Jeanneret, the cousin of architect Le Corbusier. These days, the US, Europe, and the UK are all in high demand for the furniture that Jeanneret designed. It is necessary to investigate if the designation of historic items from Chandigarh as “art treasures” would result in an export prohibition.
