[Count d'Orsay, French painter and dandy.] Individual etched portraits of Prince Talleyrand and Comte Montrond, on the same leaf, each with caption stating 'Sketched by D'Orsay'.

Two etchings in black ink, printed side by side on a 23.5 x 18 cm piece of wove paper, with a thin printed line dividing them. Possibly proofs of two plates on conjoined leaves in a book. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with a tiny nick at foot and dog-eared corners. Each of the sketches is full-length, and has a caption at foot, in a facsimile of D'Orsay's hand. To the left, 11.5 x 18 cm, is 'Pce Talleyrand | Sketched by D'Orsay', depicting Talleyrand, in left profile, with outdoor coat and hat in trailing left hand, his right hand resting on a walking stick and his crippled right leg slightly raised. To the right, 12 x 18 cm, is 'Cte Montrond | Sketched by D'Orsay', depicting a portly Montrond with back to the viewer, sitting astride a plain chair, with playing cards in his left hand held up to his face. Unusual. The two etching are in the British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings, both donated by Michael Hoadley, the Talleyrand with Museum Number E.118-1980, and the Montrond with Museum Number E.117-1980. Neither description states whether or not they are on the same piece of paper, as with the present item. See the frontispiece to Linda Kelly's book 'Talleyrand in London': 'Le prince de Talleyrand & Mr Montrond jouant au whist fait par le comte Alfred d'Orsay', which is dated to 1831.