3 min readChandigarhJan 27, 2023 09:59 PM IST
First published on: Jan 27, 2023 at 06:32 PM IST
With 40 lots of Chandigarh heritage items with a total reserve price of Rs 4.02-5.74 crore set to go under the hammer in France on Friday afternoon, a member of the city’s heritage protection cell has sought the Paris police’s intervention.
The reserve price of one article—PJ R 30 A Display and Blue Metal, a Pierre Jeanneret-designed, circa 1961 teak bookcase with front sliding doors, glass sides and top, with two blue lacquered metal crenellated interior shelves—is Rs 40-53.34 lakh. It is a model created for the Central State Library in Chandigarh.
Ajay Jagga, of the heritage protection cell, has written to Nathalie Chanvallon, judicial police officer of Paris, seeking an investigation into the auction.
“During your visit to Chandigarh with the French delegation in November 2022, we discussed the matter of the illegal sales of Chandigarh heritage articles and decided to share information regarding the auction of Chandigarh articles in France so as to track the transactions and reach the ultimate bottom of the this network, which has taken the goods out of India, despite orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (2011),” Ajay Jagga wrote in his letter.
“However, on January 29, an auction house called OSENET in France is going to auction, perhaps one of the biggest auctions, having more than 40 lots of Chandigarh articles. The total value comes to 4.5 lakh euros to 6.5 lakh euros (more than Rs 4.02-5.74 crore). The auction is being conducted at Hotel Des Ventes du Château, 13 Avenue de Saint Cloud-78000, Versailles (known for World Heritage Sites).”
Jagga has sought an investigation, in accordance with the French as well as international laws, into who brought these items and when, whether the person had come to India on a business visa or a tourist visa, and he or she had an import/export licence in France or not.
“The details of sales in India, i.e. Panjab University, Punjab Civil Secretariat, Central State Library etc. will help us in tracking the chain, [which] is involved in these art transactions,” Jagga added.
Among the other items that will go under the hammer is a Jeanneret-designed “low chair with transversal back” (circa 1960) a model designed for private homes as well as the PGIMER with a reserve price of 15,000-20,000 euros.
Also to be auctioned are a teak bench realized for the MLA hostel and residences of Chandigarh civil servants, with a reserve price between 8000 to 12,000 euros; a Pierre Jeanneret designed Bamboo Iron Chair with Cushion (circa 1954)—a copy of which was in Jeanneret’s Chandigarh house and another in the collections of the City Museum in Chandigarh—with a reserve price of 30,000-40,000 euros; a 1953 bamboo armchair, a model created for the house of Jeanneret, with a reserve price of 25,000-35,000 euros; and a tree trunk table tripod coffee table, a model made for private homes in Chandigarh, with a reserve price of 30,000-40,000 euros.
The bamboo chair was designed by Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and Jeanneret (1896-1967).
Ajay Jagga, of the heritage protection cell, has written to Nathalie Chanvallon, judicial police officer of Paris, seeking an investigation into the auction. (Express photos) 
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