John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, born 6 August 1845 in London, is shown here in a close-cropped bust portrait facing left in strict profile, a format favored by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company for its celebrity carte and cabinet series. The albumen print is mounted on a cream card stock bearing the company's printed imprint and copyright notice in the lower margin, with Lorne's signature, "Lorne", rendered in bold copperplate script at center below the image. The London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company was founded in 1854 and became one of the preeminent portrait studios of the Victorian era.

The sitter is depicted in a dark wool coat with a wide velvet collar worn casually open over a light waistcoat and turned-down shirt collar, with a loosely knotted cravat at the throat. His light, wavy hair sweeps back from a high forehead and falls in loose curls behind the ear. The expression is composed and oblique, the gaze directed forward and slightly downward, consistent with a directed studio pose.

Lorne served as the 4th Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883, during which time he founded the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the National Gallery of Canada. He was married to Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. The reverse imprint identifies the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company as sole photographers to the International Exhibition of 1862, placing this mount design in the period when the studio occupied premises at 110 and 108 Regent Street and 54 Cheapside, London. The reverse is additionally inscribed in ink at the top, "Marquis of Lorne."