John G. Saxe is portrayed in a three-quarter bust CDV by Sarony, 680 Broadway, New York, showing the American poet and humorist in middle age seated and turned to his left, his arms crossed before him, wearing a light-colored suit jacket over a waistcoat and white shirt with a loosely knotted cravat. His hair and beard are light in tone and neatly groomed, his expression relaxed and confident. The Sarony studio imprint appears in script on the front mount below the image.

Sarony at 680 Broadway was the premier celebrity portrait studio in New York during the 1860s through 1880s, and the breezy informality of Saxe's pose is consistent with the studio's approach to literary and theatrical subjects during this period. The plain yellow card stock is a distinctive Sarony presentation variant.

John G. Saxe (1816–1887) was among the most popular American comic poets of the mid-nineteenth century, celebrated for his witty verse satires and public readings at lyceums and literary societies across the United States. His poem The Blind Men and the Elephant remains his best-known work. Though largely forgotten today, Saxe was a fixture on the American lecture circuit and a familiar figure in the literary culture of New York and New England during the 1850s and 1860s.

The reverse is a plain yellow card with no imprint and dealer code 2/17/12 / 10ABCY / Eb.