Free Republic

They look perfectly civilised, carefully passing cups and plates around a large table while enjoying afternoon tea. But these guests are in fact stuffed kittens in an odd piece of artwork which will make up part of a special one-off exhibition. It is just one piece of a bizarre Victorian collection of stuffed animals which was broken up and sold around the world seven years ago. The eccentric world of taxidermist Walter Potter, where stuffed animals mimic human life including toads playing leapfrog and rat police raiding a drinking den, was sold for more than £500,000 in 2003.