A fresh round of auctions featuring Pierre Jeanneret-designed heritage furniture from Chandigarh has ignited diplomatic concerns, as a collection of 13 lots went under the hammer in Brussels on Thursday. The auction, conducted by PIASA, carried a combined estimate of €196,000 to €290,000 (approximately Rs 2.13 crore to Rs 3.16 crore). This event follows closely on the heels of a controversial auction of Punjab Vidhan Sabha furniture in Chicago earlier this month.
Heritage Activist Flags Sale
Ajay Jagga, a heritage activist and member of the Heritage Protection Cell in Chandigarh, raised the alarm in a representation sent to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. He urged immediate diplomatic intervention before the auction concluded, highlighting that several auction houses openly display original institutional markings and inscriptions that establish provenance from Chandigarh and Punjab government establishments. Jagga argued that such markings not only confirm authenticity and ownership but also strengthen India's claim for recovery and repatriation. Despite this, he noted a lack of visible effort to challenge these sales or secure the return of such heritage property.
Lack of Inventory Numbers
In his letter, Jagga pointed out that unlike some earlier instances, the Brussels lots carried no visible inventory numbers, even though their institutional provenance was openly declared in the auction catalogue itself. He called for sensitizing Indian missions abroad, issuing a formal advisory to monitor international auction houses, establishing a coordinated mechanism between the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Culture, and the Archaeological Survey of India, and conducting a domestic probe into how marked government assets keep leaving the country.
Systemic Loss of Cultural Identity
Jagga described the continued auction of Chandigarh heritage articles abroad as not an isolated incident but a systemic and ongoing loss of India's cultural identity. He invoked Article 49 of the Constitution, which obligates the State to protect objects of national importance from export or disposal, along with Articles 51A(f) and (i) regarding citizens' duty to preserve heritage and safeguard public property.
Previous Auction in Chicago
This development comes just after Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan sought a custody report from the Chandigarh Administration following the auction of a pair of heritage chairs and a set of four low stools from the Punjab MLA Hostel in Sector 4, which were sold in Chicago on June 4 for over Rs 59 lakh. The Speaker warned that any intentional negligence damaging Chandigarh's unique architectural and historical heritage would not be tolerated, and strict action would be taken against those responsible.
A high-level meeting was held with UT authorities to ascertain custodianship, as these heritage items remain in the joint custody of the Punjab, Haryana, and UT Chandigarh governments, with inventory records maintained by the UT Administration. That sale proceeded despite Ministry of Home Affairs orders to check the movement, sale, and export of such items, with the auctioned chairs bearing the inventory marking 'MLA (H) PB/1/B-11'. Jagga also recalled a precedent from October 2021, when two tables from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha were auctioned in the US for around Rs 13.36 lakh, an issue he had raised with the Speaker at that time.
Recurring Issue
Days earlier, Jagga had flagged another round of Wright Auction House sales in the US, noting that the US house claimed to have sold 400 pieces worth $5.5 million over the preceding decade. He argued that despite repeated instances of such sales, no structured institutional or diplomatic response mechanism has been developed. The recurrence of these sales, now spanning the US and Belgium within weeks, has renewed questions about the absence of a real-time tracking and repatriation framework for Chandigarh's modernist heritage. Even the Heritage Protection Cell, established specifically to inventory and prevent illicit trafficking of such furniture, remains seized of the MLA Hostel matter referred to it by the Speaker's office.
Details of the Brussels Auction
The 13-lot Chandigarh collection auctioned in Brussels included items such as a library table (Lot 278, estimate €40,000-60,000), a sofa from administrative buildings (Lot 280, €15,000-20,000), a pair of office chairs (Lot 282, €15,000-20,000), a bench (Lot 283, €8,000-12,000), a pair of committee chairs (Lot 345, €15,000-20,000), a table model created for Panjab University (Lot 346, €15,000-20,000), a design piece by Jeanneret and Le Corbusier from the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Lot 347, €18,000-25,000), a chair with writing tablet from administrative buildings (Lot 348, €3,000-4,000), a set of three high stools (Lot 349, €15,000-20,000), a chest of drawers (Lot 350, €6,000-9,000), a bench from the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Lot 351, €12,000-18,000), a pair of performance hall armchairs (Lot 352, €6,000-9,000), and a student's desk and library chair from various administrative buildings (Lot 353, €8,000-12,000). The combined estimate for the entire collection was €196,000 to €290,000.
