Mr & Mrs Blanchoir

A rare bust-length double silhouette painted in Torond’s early ‘black’ style most probably as a marriage portrait of Mr & Mrs Blanchar (or possibly Blanchoir).

Painted on paper within a watercolour border and individually signed ‘by Torond’ with a clipped ink inscription reverse. Period oak frame with carved borders.

A man of many artistic talents, Francis Torond (ca.1743-1812) only painted silhouettes for about ten years during the late 1770s and into the 1780s. His earliest work was completed in the “black” style; later he worked using light and dark shades (clare-obscure) as can be seen in his conversation pieces. Works by Torond rarely come on the market as tragically many of his conversation pieces were reportedly lost in a warehouse fire in 1919.