Adolphe Alphonse Assi (1841–1886), a leading figure of the Paris Commune of 1871, is depicted here in a vintage albumen carte de visite dating to circa 1870–71. He appears in a three-quarter view turned slightly left, wearing a dark military tunic with prominent button rows and a striped kepi bearing what appears to be an officer's band, consistent with his role as a National Guard officer. No photographer's imprint is visible on the mount.

The subject's full dark beard and curling hair frame a composed, direct expression. His uniform, a double-breasted dark coat with round buttons at chest and collar, is worn with the kepi squarely placed, conveying both military rank and the particular seriousness of a man photographed during a moment of revolutionary significance. The mount is plain and unadorned on the verso save for the handwritten inscription.

During the Siege of Paris by the Germans from September 1870 to March 1871, Assi served as a lieutenant in the 192nd battalion of the National Guard and became a member of its Central Committee. On March 17 he was elected commandant of the 67th battalion, and the following day gave orders for the seizure of the Hôtel de Ville. Elected to the Council of the Commune by the 11th arrondissement on March 26, he was ultimately captured during the Bloody Week and, tried alongside painter Gustave Courbet, was condemned to deportation in New Caledonia, where he died in 1886.

Inscribed in ink on the reverse: "Assi / 25 à 30 ans / cheveux blonds / porte sa barbe entière / fine et peu fournie" (Assi / 25 to 30 years old / blond hair / wears his beard full / fine and sparse).