Life-size cast of Princess Diana's hand goes up for auction

A life-size cast of Princess Diana's hand is expected to sell for up to £40,000 ($46,046) when it goes under the hammer Tuesday.

The plaster cast of Diana's left hand, depicting her wedding band, will be auctioned off at Reeman Dansie in the southeastern English county of Essex.

The 24-centimeter-long cast was made by renowned Croatian sculptor Oscar Nemon just before his death in 1985, with Diana being his last sitter.

he auction house said the piece was "extremely rare and believed unique."

Nemon's distinguished portfolio included sculptures of other members of the British royal family such as the late Queen, the Queen Mother and Prince Philip. The sculptor, who had moved to England in 1936, was also granted a studio in St James Palace in London, where Diana's cast was made.

Reeman Dansie Managing Director James Grinter called the cast a "delicate beauty."

"It has a wonderful presence actually," he told CNN.

The life cast formerly belonged to Nemon's assistant, sculptor Karin Churchill, who was also its caster, the auction house stated in its description.

Casts are typically made by placing something -- in this instance, Diana's left hand -- into a liquid silicon bath which sets to form a mold. The mold is then filled with plaster of Paris, which when it hardens, is the cast.