The actor's photograph has turned up in a collage by the modern artists Gilbert and George and is now on sale at the Art'99 contemporary art fair in north London.

Called Mouth, the 1983 work features a green tinted photograph of young Clunes on his knees which floats in a yellow sky above London roofs.

Clunes' agent confirmed that the picture is indeed of the actor. It was taken when he was in his early 20s before he found success in his screen roles.

An Art'99 spokeswoman said: "There have been quite a few interested buyers."

The young Clunes is unlikely to have received much money for his trouble. In 1991 the Turner Award winning Gilbert and George said they paid their models £30 for two hours, even after they won the Turner Prize.

Gilbert and George's works fetch between £25,000 and £125,000, depending on their scale. Photos of anonymous young men are a common feature of their paintings.