Original artwork for Rolling Stones' album Let It Bleed to be sold

The Rolling Stones album Let it Bleed, featuring a sculpture by graphic designer Richard Brownjohn and cake created by chef Delia Smith (Reuters)

The original artwork from Rolling Stones album Let It Bleed - which included a cake created by Delia Smith - is to be sold for up to £40,000.

The 1969 sleeve was styled like a stacking record player with a clock face, pizza, film-reel can and a tyre piled beneath the glace cherry-decked cake.

It will be sold by auction house Bonhams next month as part of an entertainment memorabilia sale with an estimated price from £30,000-£40,000.

Designer Robert Brownjohn was commissioned to create the image by his friend, guitarist Keith Richards, and was influenced by the working title of the album, Automatic Changer.

He asked Smith to create the over-the-top cake, which was decorated with cherries, silver balls, trails of pink and green icing and wedding cake-style figures of the band.

She has recalled: "They wanted it to be very over-the-top and as gaudy as I could make it."

The cover regularly features in polls of the greatest sleeves of all time and was chosen for a set of Royal Mail stamps depicting classic album covers last year.

Chart-topper Let It Bleed was the last Stones album to feature the late Brian Jones and the first to feature his replacement, Mick Taylor, formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

Stephanie Connell, Bonhams' head of entertainment memorabilia, said: "It is really exciting to be able to offer the artwork for this iconic design. We expect there to be a lot of interest from Stones fans around the globe."