Iconic images of some of Playboy's sexiest pin-ups including Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot are put up for auction

With the Chinese Year of the Rabbit only a few months away, there couldn't be a better time to celebrate one of the world's most iconic bunnies. Playboy magazine - famous for its rabbit head logo - will be giving fans the chance of own a piece of its history when some of its most well-known images featuring some of its big icons go on sale. An auction of 80 photographs that have featured in the world-famous publication over its 57-year history will take place at Christie's in London on December 8.

This photograph of Marilyn Monroe appeared on the cover of the first ever Playboy magazine in December 1953 is one of the auction items

Actually dubbed, 'The Year of the Rabbit', the sale includes 80 photographs, more than a dozen contemporary works, including an oil-painting expected to fetch millions, and 24 cartoons. mong the photographs isshot of the magazine's 1953 debut cover of Marilyn Monroe, which was purchased by the magazine from United Press.

The image was shot during a parade of Monroe riding on the back of a car but Playboy swapped out the background of a crowd for its own logo. It's believed the white paint surrounding Marilyn was completed by bosses at the magazine, who were attempting to picture how the eventual cover would look without the crowd in the background.

One of Playboy's most popular pin-ups, Pamela Anderson, cosies up to Dan Ackroyd's alien character from the 1993 film Coneheads

Ooh la la! A 24-year-old Brigitte Bardot in one of her most famous images from the cover of the March 1958 Playboy

Other photos include one of Pamela Anderson in 1993, cosying up to Dan Akroyd, who is dressed as his alien character in the film Coneheads, which came out that year. There is a gelatin silver print of a 24-year-old Brigitte Bardot which was used on the cover of the March 1958 Playboy, which is expected to fetch $4,000 to $6,000.

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Two Herb Ritts shots are also in the sale, including a naked Elle McPherson and one of his of Cindy Crawford, her hands covering her modesty. Also included in the auction is a a scarlet-lipstick mouth by pop artist Tom Wesselmann from 1966, which is expected to sell for $2-3million. There is also a watercolour by Salvador Dali of a reclining nude that hung in Playboy founder and owner Hugh Hefner's bedroom

CIndy Crawford covers her breasts with her hands in a 1988 photograph taken by Herb Ritts

Model Sandra Settani was snapped by Bunny Yaeger to be Playboy's centrefold in April 1963

He saidthe magazine that has entertained, titillated and informed with its commissioned art has blurred the lines between fine and popular art. He said: 'Playboy helped to change the very direction of commercial art — breaking down the wall between fine art and commercial art. 'Before Playboy and a few other places, commercial art was essentially Norman Rockwell, very realistic. And we introduced into commercial illustration the whole notion of everything from abstract to semi-abstract to stuff that you found on a gallery wall.'

This 1966 oil painting by Tom Wesselmann is among the 125 pieces up for auction and is expected to fetch between $2-3 million

Playmate of the Year for 1996 Stacy Sanchez poses in white fabric in the shape of Playboy's bunny logo for a front cover

The auction also includes a 1970 portrait of Hefner in his signature smoking jacket and pipe. It was commissioned for the old Playboy mansion in Chicago in the late 1960s, and Playboy Enterprise inherited it after Hefner moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s.

Cathy Elkies, the director of corporate collections at Christie's, predicted that viewers would be surprised by the sophistication of the Playboy collection. She said: 'The unexpected thing is that Playboy really did marry fine, high-quality art with the traditional photographs of women. What will pique people's interest is that when you open the catalogue, you realise that this is pretty serious.' This is the second time the auction house has held a Playboy sale, the last one being in 2003 for it's 50th anniversary.

Elle Macpherson poses naked atop a giant metal star in this 1994 Herb Ritts photograph