Herge's last Tintin strip goes up for auction in Liege

The last major illustration by Tintin creator Herge will be put up for auction on Saturday in Liege.

The pair of ink drawings, measuring 85 cm by 3.5 cm and 95 cm by 3.5 cm (2 metres by 1.5 inch), is expected to sell for upwards of €50,000 (59,000 US dollars) when it is auctioned by antiques seller Librarie Lhomme.

Herge made the drawing, that included Tintin, his dog Snowy, Captain Haddock and a host of familiar characters, as a study for a mural at the Stockel metro station in Brussels.

The artist left the work at his studio shortly before his death in 1983, where it was later refined. The illustration was passed on to a metro worker involved in the mural's construction, and it was subsequently hung in a children's bedroom.

The work's value was only discovered after its owner's death, when his daughter put it up for sale. Some small changes were made, notably the exclusion of a character intended to represent a Chinese opium smoker.