The 1930s piece was one of four mismatched chairs that the British author picked up for free in Edinburgh, Scotland, before she rose to fame.

Ms Rowling originally auctioned the chair to benefit her charity in 2002. She hand-painted the chair, which auctioneer James Gannon said made the piece so valuable.

A chair that author JK Rowling sat on while writing the first two Harry Potter books has sold at a New York auction for nearly $400,000 (£283,000).

It features the phrases: “O, you may not find me pretty but don’t judge on what you see” and “I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair”.