Esther Doux is among the Paris Commune prisoners photographed by Ernest Eugène Appert, who gained exclusive access to a makeshift prison at Versailles following the Commune's suppression and made portraits of individual detainees. She is identified on the reverse in a contemporary hand as a "communist woman" and one of the Parisian pétroleuses engaged in burning Paris. Appert supplied many of these portraits to the military tribunal, offered them as tokens for prisoners' families, and commercially exploited them as a series. The carte-de-visite dates to circa 1871.

The subject is shown in three-quarter profile seated at a chair, her left arm folded over the chair back and her right hand raised to her lips holding a cigar. She wears a light-colored long-sleeved blouse with a lace or ruffled collar, a dark belt at the waist, and a full skirt. A dark tasseled hat sits atop loosely curled hair, and a small earring is visible at her ear.

The pétroleuses were female supporters of the Paris Commune accused of burning down much of Paris during the last days of the insurrection in May 1871, with rumors circulating that working-class women committed arson using bottles of petroleum thrown into cellar windows. At the Chantiers women's prison in Versailles, a number of Appert's subjects were photographed in profile, drinking from beer bottles or smoking, a staging strategy consistent with the pose recorded here. The front of the mount bears the printed imprint "E. Appert, Phot. Expert. Déposé" with the notice "Reproduction interdite" (reproduction forbidden).

The reverse carries Appert's full studio imprint for 24, Rue Taitbout, Paris, with silver medal dates and his designations as "Peintre Photographe de S.M. la Reine d'Espagne" and "Photographe du Corps Législatif." Inscribed in ink at the top of the reverse: "communist woman / Estha Doux / one of the Parisian / Pétroleuses / engaged in burning Paris." A penciled signature and the notation "3/12/07 LLOBAB1 Eb" appear at the bottom.