As many as 14 heritage items, worth Rs 1.75 crore, designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret went under the hammer at Luxembourg on January 10.
Out of the 14 Heritage furniture items that were put up for auction, 11 were sold. The teak sofa of Chandigarh was auctioned for the highest price of ₹20.58 lakh.
The auction was held on Luxembourg’s ‘Lux Oxon’ website and around 1 crore were bid. Items that have been auctioned include office cane chair, easy arms chairs, cafeteria table, dining chairs, law fireside chairs, student chairs, small desk, teak sofa and stools.
A voice was raised against the auction by Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Protection Cell, who had sent a complaint to the Indian Embassy in Luxembourg to stop the auction. The Secretary (Culture) of the Indian Embassy in Luxembourg also tried to stop the auction, but to no avail.
According to the complaint, Jagga had said, “The auction by foreign auction houses of Indian heritage is all-time high, causing a huge loss to nation’s prestige apart from violation of ban and as such it is appealed that our embassy may be alerted and be asked to help in initiating inquiry.
UN may also be approached reminding its international commitment to UNESCO to combat trafficking of cultural objects.” These furniture pieces belong to Panjab University, UT Secretariat and other places. Earlier, Heritage Furniture of Chandigarh was auctioned in France. The city’s Easy Arm Chair was auctioned for Rs 5.36 lakh.
