They have not been seen together for 163 years. Now the Poly Art Museum in Beijing has reassembled them in one room for the public. In 1860, the five copper busts depicting Chinese zodiac signs were looted from the old Summer Palace by British and French troops and scattered to the four winds. Two ended up in the collection of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. In the noughties, a controversial debate flared up around the art pieces. For the newly empowered China, they became a symbol of national pride and coming to terms with the past. Several Chinese museums were eventually able to buy seven of the busts at auction with government support. Five others, depicting a dragon, a snake, a rooster, a goat and a dog, remain missing to this day.