The proposed auction of Chandigarh’s heritage furniture in Barcelona, Spain, scheduled for July 22, has been halted following the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) diplomatic intervention, marking the second such success for the UT administration within weeks.
Event Context
A similar diplomatic intervention in Paris last month had led to the withdrawal of two chairs, designed by Swiss-French architect Pierre Jeanneret, the cousin of Le Corbusier, who was instrumental in shaping Chandigarh, from an auction.
The administration had also registered an FIR on July 14 based on a complaint by the director culture, pointing to multiple international auction listings. These included a July 15 auction by Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) in the United States and the July 22 sale by Setdart in Spain.
Another item under scrutiny is a hanging armchair (PJ-SI-07-A), believed to date back to around 1952 and made of teak wood, forming part of the city’s documented heritage inventory.
The administration said it will pursue all legal, administrative and diplomatic measures to safeguard and bring back the city’s heritage furniture, amid concerns that more such items may have entered international markets through unauthorised channels. The administration is also in the process of framing a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) to put in place a robust monitoring and enforcement mechanism aimed at preventing the unauthorised sale or auction of the city’s heritage assets.
Team Analysis
The administration had flagged the Barcelona auction as a suspected case of illegal removal and sale of protected heritage assets. Acting on its request, the Indian Embassy in Spain intervened, leading to the withdrawal of the items from the auction.
source
According to the complaint, the auction catalogues feature items believed to be part of Chandigarh’s original institutional furniture, some bearing government stencil markings. One such item—a Jeanneret desk and chair—reportedly carries the marking “SLMB”, indicating its association with the State Legislative Members Block.
