La Coiffeuse, a cubist work by Picasso worth more than $20 million, will be returned to France where it was stolen 17 years ago, US officials say.

The painting, whose name means The Hairdresser, was recovered last year around Christmas, wrapped in packing paper.

It had been sent via FedEx from Belgium by someone who had declared it contained an arts and crafts gift valued at $37.

But when the package was inspected, officials at the facility in Newark, New Jersey found the 33cm by 46cm work.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the painting, which is owned by the French state, will be returned to the French embassy in Washington.