The stuffed kittens, frogs, bunnies and monkey riding a goat are worthy of Turner Prize shock tactics, and sound more like artwork by Damien Hirst than a Victorian gentleman.

But the collection of stuffed animals and birds, including exercising frogs and port-drinking squirrels, dates back more than 150 years.

And now this rare and bizarre collection of tea-drinking kittens, marching mice and cricketing guinea pigs is due to go under the hammer this autumn.

The furry creatures, of all shapes and sizes, are the creations of Walter Potter, taxidermist extraordinaire.

Working from his home in Bramber, near Steyning, where he was born in 1835, Mr Potter amassed a spectacular collection of 6,000 corpses, stuffed, dressed and arranged in tableaux ranging from a village school to a gentleman's club.

Today, Mr Potter's Museum of Curiosities is one of the most elaborate surviving examples of a 19th Century craze for winsomely posed stuffed animals.

Taxidermy was all the rage in genteel society.

A dozen taxidermists took part in the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851, many with complex displays such as frogs playing billiards, which are said to have delighted Queen Victoria.

Modern palates may have moved on but while many find the creatures distasteful, squeamish, or downright barbaric, the sale of the unique collection has generated much interest.

It is thought the tableaux will raise between £6,000 to £8,000 each.

Originally housed at his father's pub in the village, the White Lion Inn, the collection was moved to the specially-built Bramber Museum in 1880.

After Mr Potter's death in 1918 it passed to his daughter, Minnie Collins, and then to his grandson, Walter Collins.

It was sold in 1972 and the kittens, frogs, bunnies and marching band of mice were uprooted and ended up at a museum next to Brighton's Palace Pier for two years.

Soon afterwards they were bought by John Watts, owner of the Jamaica Inn in Cornwall, which inspired Daphne du Maurier's novel.

However, it is now time for the troop to move on again.

The decision follows the retirement of Mr Watts, his wife Wendy, and their curator, and the death of resident taxidermist Mike Grace last year.

The pub in Bolventor also needs more tourist accommodation and, since it also houses a waxwork display illustrating its history of ghosts and smugglers, the stuffed animals have to go.

Mr Potter's inspiration often came from nursery rhymes or popular songs of the day.

Who Killed Cock Robin? is made up of 98 specimens of British bird, including a cuckoo, nightingale, gold finch and bramble finch.

The dove is followed by an adult red breasted robin and three younger plain coloured robins. Many of the birds have glass tears in their eyes.

It took Mr Potter seven years to make.

The details are extraordinary.

At the kitten's tea party, many of the 37 creatures sport delicate jewellery and there are even tea leaves in their china cups.

In the rabbits' classroom, 'boy' rabbits learn maths, while the 'girls' attend to sewing and embroidery.

One scholar is crying because he blotted his book, another cheats, peering at his neighbour's slate while the teacher looks away.

Mechanically driven swings and see-saws would have delighted Victorian audiences gazing at the display of 18 exercising toads.

Meanwhile, in the cricket match 34 young guinea pigs concentrate fervently on the game, while a brass band plays in the background.

The score stands 189 for seven, last guinea pig 34.

The 18 red squirrels and their servants sipping port at their exclusive club look like a scene from Jeeves and Wooster.

There are even examples of taxidermy in miniature, with two cases of stuffed birds on the walls.

The collection has grown while in Cornwall.

Among the 4,000 other items also up for grabs at the two-day sale, starting on September 23, are Steptoe and Son's moth-eaten stuffed bear, which is thought will raise £30,000, and the ferret which roamed the trousers of Compo in Last Of The Summer Wine, a snip at £250.

A puma used by a newspaper in 1966 to create a hoax photograph which threw middle England into turmoil by ostensibly showing a wildcat on the loose in Surrey, is also on offer at about £2,000.

A black rhino's head could fetch £8,000.

Auctioneers Bonhams expect the stuffed animals, together with a selection of fossils, glass eyes, African spears, the world's biggest shoe and Queen Victoria's old enamel bath from the Royal Train, to realise well in excess of £200,000.

Jon Baddeley, of Bonhams, said: "This is one of the most unusual and eccentric collections ever offered for auction.

"The ability of the exhibits of taxidermy to shock and entertain visitors today to the same extent as they were reported to have done 150 years ago is remarkable and we expect the sale to draw collectors from far and wide."

For those whose stomachs do turn at the site of stuffed kitties, they may be somewhat mollified by Mr Potter's sign, explaining no animal had been deliberately killed to add to the throng.

Most of the kittens came from Wards Farm at Henfield, where cats bred rampantly to keep down rat infestations, and all but one of most litters tended to be drowned.

The 48 young rabbits were mostly provided by a breeder in Beeding.

As for the monkey riding a goat, legend has it that both came to an untimely death through mischief.

A pail of water was thrown over the monkey when he raided a fruit shop in Shoreham and the shock proved fatal.

The aggressive goat from Wiston Park was apparently put down after butting one too many visitors.