Helmuth von Moltke the Elder served as chief of the Prussian and German General Staff from 1858 to 1888 and was the architect of the German victories over Denmark in 1864, Austria in 1866, and France in 1871. This CDV, produced by the Paris studio of Otto & Fière, presents him in a three-quarter bust portrait against a plain vignette ground, the format and the Parisian provenance suggesting a sitting made in the context of the Franco-Prussian War or the German occupation of Paris in 1870 to 1871. The reverse carries the studio's printed imprint at 40, Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris, along with a retailer's blind-stamped imprint for Maison Alph. Giroux, 43 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, and the printed notation "Les clichés sont conservés" (the negatives are retained), standard practice indicating the studio kept the original glass negative for reorders.

The subject wears a dark Prussian officer's tunic with double-breasted button rows and a prominent epaulette bearing officer's scrollwork visible on the left shoulder. He displays a Maltese-cross breast decoration pinned at the collar, and his Pickelhaube features an ornate front plate with relief decoration and the characteristic spike finial above the visor, with a woven cockade band encircling the base of the skull.

Moltke served as Chief of Staff of the Prussian General Staff from 1857 to 1871, then of the Great German General Staff from 1871 to 1888, and was the architect of Germany's Wars of Unification. Particularly unlike the traditional Prussian officer type, Moltke was an intellectual with quiet manners and considerable literary talent, qualities that register in the composed, austere expression he presents to the camera here.

The reverse is inscribed twice in pencil: "D. Moltke" at the top and "Von Moltke" below it (identifying the subject as von Moltke). The studio imprint reads: "Otto & Fière, Photographes, 40 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle 40, Paris." A second printed stamp, inverted, reads: "Maison Alph. Giroux, 43 Route des Capucines, Paris." The printed line "Les clichés sont conservés" (the negatives are retained) appears along the left margin. No dimensions were provided.