Charles Dickens’ chair and the desk at which he wrote Great Expectations are expected to fetch up to £80,000 at auction.

The two items of furniture are said to be the most important relics from the Medway-based author ever offered for public sale, and will be auctioned at Christie’s of London on June 4.

The Victorian mahogany desk and walnut chair passed by family descent to Christopher Charles Dickens (1937-1999) and his wife Jeanne–Marie Dickens, Countess Wenckheim, and were previously on display at the Dickens Centre in Rochester until 2005.

They were recently gifted to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, London, by Countess Wenckheim in order that they could be sold to raise funds for sick children. The items have an auction guide price of between £50,000-£80,000.

Margaret Ford, director and head of Christie’s Books and Manuscripts Department, said: “Charles Dickens is regarded as one of the finest authors of the English language and we are thrilled to be offering the desk and chair at which he wrote many of his later works.

“It is particularly fitting that the proceeds from this sale should benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital which was dear to Dickens’ own heart, and which received his support and patronage in its early history.”