Wallow in the unique glory of hippo art

A 144-piece porcelain dinner service decorated with fine pictures of hippos is to go on display at Sotheby's in London next month. The service is the most important to be commissioned in 100 years.

He dispatched photographer Sarah Louise Galbraith to snap hippos in zoos and wildlife parks. Each was then painted by Jorgen Steensen, with full details of the subject written on the back of the plate.

Mr Cohen said: "The decorative arts definitely need some kind of revival. There has been no comparable commission in a century. But it is just wondrous what you can achieve." Simon Cottle of Sotheby's said it was part of a long tradition of fine porcelain commissions that had been broken by the 20th century.

" The decoration is extremely fine indeed; it's unique," he added. The Hippotamus Service will go on show in Europe for the first time at Sotheby's Olympia saleroom from 3 June to 10 June.