The Colonne Vendôme at Place Vendôme, Paris, fills the frame of this albumen silver print CDV, captured during the column's post-Commune reconstruction in the mid-1870s. On May 16, 1871, the column was pulled down by Communards during the Paris Commune. Restoration was carried out under the direction of Pinelli, with architect Lenormand and master founder Charnod. On December 27, 1875, the restored statue of the Emperor was hoisted to the top of the re-erected column. The photograph was almost certainly taken during that reconstruction campaign, placing it firmly in the 1873–1875 window. No photographer's imprint is visible on the mount.

The column dominates the composition, encased in a timber scaffolding framework with diagonal bracing, ropes, and a suspended work platform visible at mid-shaft. The spiral bronze bas-relief frieze wraps continuously upward, and at the summit the statue of Napoleon in Roman costume stands intact above the viewing balustrade. Haussmannian facades of the Place Vendôme border the background on both sides, and a draped canvas skirt at the column's base conceals activity at ground level.

Modeled on the ancient Column of Trajan in Rome, the Vendôme Column was built by Napoleon I in the first decade of the nineteenth century to glorify the French soldiers who defeated the Russian-Austrian alliance at the Battle of Austerlitz; the battle-scene bas-reliefs spiraling up the shaft were cast from the bronze of captured enemy cannons. The original bronze plaques were salvaged after the column's fall, and in the aftermath of the Commune the column was rebuilt, with funding directed by court order to the artist Gustave Courbet, who had initially advocated for its removal.

The reverse is inscribed in ink: "Colonne Vendôme" ("Vendôme Column"), with penciled notations at the lower margin reading "1/20/13," "COLBX2," and "Eb."