Jane Birkin is auctioning off one of her namesake Hermes bags.

The Brit actress has decided to put the sought-after accessory on the web marketplace to raise money for Anno's Africa which seeks to offer an arts education to orphans in the continent's most deprived cities.

The Parisian luxury label created the bag in 1981 when their late chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas sat next to Jane on a flight from Paris to London and - after noticing her flimsy straw carry-on - created a leather weekend bag for the stunning brunette to travel with.

Her daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, will also auction off her own signed edition of the Balenciaga City Bag for the charity which was set up in honour of Jane's nephew, the poet Anno Birkin, who perished in a car crash shortly before his 21st birthday.

The 67 year old fashion icon told The Telegraph newspaper: ''My handbag is being auctioned off to help a charity called Anno's Africa. That this epitome of 'chic Parisienne' should end up being useful in the Kenya slums...

''I'm very proud...By it's sale, to be able to bring art and dance, music and circus and a bit of fun and self worth to children who have nothing... to bring lightness and a future to hundreds of children in these slums, to permit artists to go there and work with these children... What better end for this Birkin bag than to help this cause, Anno's Africa in memory of that poet's name.''

The starting price for the handbag - which retails in store from around £4,800 up to £100,000 - has been set at £10,000, although it is expected to fetch well over £30,000.