Two chairs that would grace any sitting room in Hampshire are go on sale next month.

But if you want to rest your weary legs on these gold and blue beauties it could cost a cool £50,000.

That's the staggering price tag on the 18th century armchairs and auctioneers believe there will be no shortage of bidders wanting to place their posh posterior on the exclusive seat.

The chairs to be auctioned by Sotherby's came from a now-demolished New Forest country house. Two similar chairs from the same suite of furniture reside in the acclaimed Metropolitan museum of art in New York.

And the owner of the Brockenhurst Park chairs, Australia-based millionaire the Earl of Warwick, will be able to sit back and watch the money come rolling in when they are sold next month.

The Earl previously shared in a £24 million windfall when his mother sold Van Gogh's Sunflowers in 1987 and Sotheby's furniture expert Joseph Friedman predicts the Earl will be quids-in again when the estimated £30,000 - 50,000 lot comes up at the Important English Furniture sale.

He said: "I'm confident that the chairs will sell at or above the estimate as they really are exceptional pieces.

"Quite apart from the quality of the chairs they have come from an important 18th century collection belonging to one of the great patrons of the day."

The pair of George III carved gilt-wood chairs were almost certainly commissioned by Edward Morant (c.1720-1791) a wealthy Jamaican estate owner and local MP after he acquired Brockenhurst Park in 1760.

The armchairs were previously sold at Sotheby's in 1956, prior to the demolition of the house in 1960.

The present sale will take place on Friday, July 9.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.