A vignette bust portrait of Major General Joseph Hooker fills this albumen CDV produced by Mathew Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, dating to the Civil War era. Hooker was one of the most prominent Union commanders of the conflict, and Brady's studio documented him as part of its celebrated series of military and political portraiture. The image presents Hooker in a three-quarter view turned slightly left, his expression composed and direct.

He wears a double-breasted Union officer's frock coat with a row of visible buttons down the front, a high dark collar with a white linen collar visible above it, and a shoulder strap displaying two stars confirming his major general's rank. His medium-length hair sweeps back from a broad forehead, and his clean-shaven face carries a steady, measured look characteristic of Brady's formal military sittings.

Joseph Hooker (1814–1879) commanded the Army of the Potomac from January to June 1863, reorganizing it substantially before his relief following the Battle of Chancellorsville. He subsequently led the XX Corps with distinction during Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.

The reverse bears Brady's ornate printed imprint reading "Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, Broadway & Tenth Street, New York & No. 352 Pennsylvania Av. Washington D.C." A partially legible pencil notation appears at the bottom edge of the reverse.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer