George Washington Lafayette Fox, the most celebrated American pantomime clown of the nineteenth century, is the subject of this arresting close-up cabinet card by Napoleon Sarony at 680 Broadway, New York, depicting Fox in full whiteface makeup in his signature role as the Clown in Humpty Dumpty. Fox's name is printed in script on the mount face below the arched image window, and the image dates to between 1868 and 1875, the years of his triumphant run at the Olympic Theatre on Broadway where he performed the role more than a thousand times to sold-out houses.

Fox is shown in a dramatic close three-quarter bust, his face covered in full whiteface with the characteristic deep-set eyes, lined brow, and slightly parted lips of his clown character. A tight bald cap covers his head completely, and he wears the heavily trimmed and braided Clown costume with a white ruffled collar at the neck. His gaze is directed upward and slightly off camera with an expression of melancholy that was central to his pantomime persona.

Known as America's first great white-faced clown, Fox was born in 1825 into a Boston theatrical family and created his signature role of Clown in Humpty Dumpty in 1868 at the Olympic Theatre, the first American pantomime performed in two acts. Humpty Dumpty set a new long-run record on Broadway and was revived several times, with Fox eventually playing the role more than 1,400 times counting revivals and tours. His death in 1877 at age 52 was variously attributed to poisoning from stage cosmetics, professional stress, financial strain, exhaustion, and stroke. Napoleon Sarony, who photographed Fox for this series, was the preeminent theatrical portrait photographer in America during the same period, known for his vivid and dramatically lit studies of stage performers at his Broadway studio.