20 heritage items from Chandigarh auctioned in France for ₹3.8 crore

At the auction, organised by auction house Piasa on Wednesday, of the total 20 articles, a table went for the highest price of ₹70.1 lakh

As many as 20 heritage furniture items from Chandigarh were auctioned in France for a total of ₹3.81 crore, the highest so far this year.

A set of 10 box chairs, designed by architect Pierre Jeanneret, was sold for ₹36.8 lakh during an auction in France. (Source: www.piasa.fr)

At the auction, organised by auction house Piasa on Wednesday, of the total 20 articles, a table went for the highest price of ₹70.1 lakh. The table was designed by architect Pierre Jeanneret for Panjab University’s mechanical engineering department.

Apart from this, a set of 10 box chairs, also designed by Jeanneret, was sold for ₹36.8 lakh, a pair of easy armchairs for ₹34.84 lakh and a storage cabinet for ₹29.87 lakh.

Other auctioned articles included two desks for ₹13.14 lakh and ₹12.26 lakh, respectively, two sofas for ₹26.13 lakh and ₹13.14 lakh, respectively, lounge chairs ( ₹26.13 lakh), a pair of committee chairs ( ₹15.78 lakh), a daybed ( ₹6.09 lakh), library chairs ( ₹3.48 lakh), a bench ( ₹13.14 lakh), a pair of easy chairs ( ₹8.32 lakh), a screen ( ₹7.01 lakh), a set of three stools ( ₹20.15 lakh), another set of three stools ( ₹9.64 lakh), a set of three high stools ( ₹19.27 lakh), a coffee table ( ₹8.76 lakh) and a committee armchair ( ₹6.96 lakh).

In a similar auction organised by OISE Enchreres auction house in France in June last year, 29 heritage items from Chandigarh were sold for an estimated ₹4 crore.

On September 7 this year, an easy chair, also designed by Jeanneret in 1959 for Punjab Engineering College (PEC), was auctioned in Barcelona, Spain.

Earlier, in last week of July, a pair of Kangaroo Chairs were sold by Bartons auction house in Pennsylvania, US.

In another auction held in April, a total of nine heritage furniture items from Chandigarh were sold off in Chicago, US, for ₹1.64 crore, with the most expensive item selling for ₹18.8 lakh.

On January 27, a French auction house had put up for sale 40 heritage items from Chandigarh, but called off the bidding process hours before the auction.

According to sources, the French Police had taken note of the auction, the biggest so far, and initiated an investigation. Thereafter, the website of the auction house was also not accessible.

Earlier on January 20, 10 heritage items from Chandigarh also went under the hammer in New Jersey, US.