Colonel Routh Goshen, billed as the "Arabian Giant" and exhibited at P.T. Barnum's Museum in New York, is depicted here in a full-length albumen CDV produced by Bailey & Silver at 395 and 397 Broadway, New York. Goshen stands in a theatrical military uniform consisting of a braided hussar-style jacket with epaulettes, white breeches, and tall black riding boots, wearing a polished metal helmet with a prominent feathered plume. Cradled in his left arm is a small child dressed in a dark suit and bow tie, seated on the crook of an ornately decorated long staff or cane that Goshen holds upright, the scale contrast between the two figures serving as the central visual statement of the composition.

The patterned carpet beneath his feet, a draped fabric backdrop with lace trim to his left, and a low upholstered prop to his right are all standard studio furnishings of the period, though here they are dwarfed by the subject's extraordinary frame. Goshen's full mustache, direct forward gaze, and composed posture give the portrait a formal dignity consistent with the promotional carte-de-visite genre.

Colonel Routh Goshen was a prominent giant exhibited by P.T. Barnum in the 1860s and claimed to stand eight feet tall and weigh 475 pounds, details printed on the reverse of this card. Goshen toured extensively under Barnum and was among the most widely photographed giants of the American sideshow era.

The reverse reads: "COL. ROUTH GOSHEN. THE ARABIAN GIANT, 8 feet high, weight 475 lbs. As exhibited at Barnum's Museum, New York." Photographed by Bailey & Silver, 395 & 397 Broadway, N.Y. A handwritten notation reads "3/24/12 COLAXZ."