A mustachioed male athlete stands in full-length pose before a painterly studio backdrop, photographed on an albumen silver CDV by Thos. Taylor & Sons of 481 High Street, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, likely dating to the 1880s. The subject wears a loose white linen athletic shirt with a knotted necktie, high-waisted knee breeches, dark knitted hose, and white athletic slippers, the standard dress of a Victorian physical culturist. One hand rests on his hip in a confident pose while the other hangs at his side.

Two wooden Indian clubs, each roughly bottle-shaped and standing nearly to knee height, flank the subject on either side, serving as deliberate props that identify him as a practitioner of club swinging. British soldiers stationed in India adapted club-swinging exercises from Pehlwani wrestlers and brought the practice back to England, where the clubs were modified to resemble bowling pins and became wildly popular during the Victorian physical culture craze of the mid-nineteenth century. During the Victorian era, Indian clubs were used by military cadets and well-heeled ladies alike, and club swinging even appeared as a gymnastic event at the 1904 and 1932 Olympics.

The studio imprint on the mount face reads "Taylor & Sons, Kirkcaldy" in bold italic script, with the full reverse legend identifying the photographer as "Thos. Taylor & Sons, 481 High Street, Kirkcaldy," accompanied by decorative architectural engraving and the notice that photographs could be coloured, enlarged, or reproduced to life size. The reverse also bears a penciled catalog notation reading "cdv00117."