Image caption JD Salinger became reclusive after Catcher in the Rye came out in 1951

A toilet described as once having belonged to US author JD Salinger has been put on sale on the online auction site eBay for $1m (£644,000).

The vendor says he obtained the "used toilet commode" from a couple who now own the former home of the Catcher in the Rye author.

It comes "uncleaned and in its original condition", the ad for it states.

"Who knows how many of [his] stories were thought up and written while Salinger sat on this throne!", it adds.

The toilet comes with a letter from Joan Littlefield, attesting that the toilet was removed during renovations to her and her husband's house in Cornish, New Hampshire, formerly owned by the reclusive author.

She writes that they knew all the workmen who installed the toilet decades ago when Salinger had work done on the house.

There have been a number of bids on the item.

Salinger died in January, aged 91.

His most famous work, The Catcher in the Rye, has sold tens of millions of copies.

The tale of adolescent alienation has become one of the most influential American novels of the modern era since it was first published in 1951.

He became disillusioned with the publishing industry and moved to Cornish where he withdrew from society.

He continued to write, however, and is believed to have completed 15 manuscripts. It is these that the vendor suggests may have been dreamed up while sitting on the toilet.