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Chandigarh’s heritage ‘committee table’ auctioned for ₹71.57L in London
The ‘Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret Committee table’ that was designed for the Assembly in 1963-1964, had a reserve price of ₹34.44 lakh but was auctioned of for double the amount.
A Chandigarh heritage item was sold for ₹71.57 lakh at Bonhams, an auction house in London.
The ‘Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret Committee table’ that was designed for the Assembly in 1963-1964, had a reserve price of ₹34.44 lakh but was auctioned of for double the amount. Heritage furniture from the city was cumulatively sold for ₹2.11 crore during the event. Ten heritage items from the UT were sold despite the Indian embassy raising the issue with the MET Police, Scotland and Bonhams auctioneer, among others.
As per a list compiled by the Chandigarh Heritage Inventory Committee in 2012, there are 12,793 heritage items, of which a considerable chunk is in the possession of the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, besides a huge stock of chairs and tables at the Punjab and Haryana civil secretariat and Vidhan Sabha, and the high court. The physical verification of these items is yet to be completed.
Some of the heritage items found their way to the international market and have been auctioned for high prices to bidders across the world. The UT administration has been struggling to stop auction of these items and those stolen from different departments and institutions.
