Chandigarh heritage furniture auctioned again in UK despite concerns

• A circa 1957 ‘PJ-BU-02-A’ pigeonhole desk (Lot 177), sold for £7,500.

• A circa 1955 teak file rack marked ‘P.B.S.-005’ (Lot 176), sold for £5,500.

• A set of four circa 1955-56 teak and cane chairs with Punjabi script markings (Lot 175), sold for £3,600.

Jagga described the sales as evidence of “illegal removal/unauthorised disposal of public assets” and “systemic failure in preservation and inventory control.” He noted that the visible institutional markings strengthen India’s claim to the items, yet no visible objections or recovery efforts were made.

A set of four chairs designed by Pierre Jeanneret was recently auctioned in the UK. (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement)

This incident follows earlier auctions, including one by Wright in the US, which Jagga said have gone unaddressed through structured diplomatic channels despite previous representations to the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The letter stresses that the issue requires urgent international engagement. Jagga requested that all Indian embassies and high commissions be sensitised to monitor auction houses, flag listings of such heritage objects, and initiate diplomatic or legal responses. He also called for a coordinated mechanism between the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Ministry of Culture, and the ASI for real-time action, including potential restitution, and a domestic probe into how marked government assets are leaving the country.

Jagga argued that the ongoing dispersal of these pieces contradicts the Prime Minister’s vision of “Viksit Bhi, Virasat Bhi (Developed India, Heritage India)” and warned that without intervention, India’s cultural legacy risks being irretrievably lost to private collections worldwide.

Pierre Jeanneret (1896-1967), a Swiss architect and cousin-collaborator of Le Corbusier, played a pivotal role in shaping Chandigarh’s modernist identity beyond its iconic concrete architecture. Appointed as Chief Architect and Urban Planning Advisor to the Government of Punjab, Jeanneret was responsible for designing numerous civic buildings, educational institutions, housing typologies, and the Gandhi Bhawan.

While Le Corbusier focused on the grand Capitol Complex, Jeanneret is often credited with giving the city its “flesh and bones” through thoughtful, human-scale designs that integrated local materials and craftsmanship.

His furniture designs for government offices, institutions, and public spaces became an integral part of Chandigarh’s heritage. Crafted primarily from teak, cane, and rope using locally available resources, these pieces feature signature elements such as compass (V-shaped) legs, robust minimalist forms, and functional elegance tailored to India’s climate and context. Pieces like daybeds, desks, file racks, and chairs, often bearing institutional markings, exemplify a distinctive Indo-modern aesthetic that blended modernist principles with practical innovation, making them highly sought-after today while representing a vital chapter in India’s post-Independence cultural legacy.