Jules Johannard, inscribed by name on the reverse, was a founding member of the Faubourg-Saint-Denis section of the International Workingmen’s Association and sat on the General Council of the First International before his election to the Paris Commune’s council for the 2nd arrondissement on April 16, 1871. The oval albumen print is by Etienne Carjat & Cie, Paris, at 10 Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.

He is shown bust length within an oval vignette, wearing a dark military-style tunic with a double row of buttons and a shoulder strap denoting rank, consistent with his service in the National Guard during the Commune. His full dark beard and thick, side-parted hair are sharply rendered, and he turns his head slightly to gaze past the camera.

Johannard sat on the Commune’s commissions of External Relations and War and voted for the creation of the Committee of Public Safety. He was appointed civil delegate to General La Cécilia and took part in the defense of Montmartre during the Bloody Week. Condemned to death in absentia after the Commune’s fall, he escaped to London, where he remained active on the International’s General Council, supporting Karl Marx, until his death in 1892.

The reverse is inscribed in pencil, “Johannard / Jules Paul Johannard / Fr. Communard,” over the printed studio imprint of Etienne Carjat & Cie, 10 Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris, with the oval stamp “J.H. Lang, Bâle (Suisse), Succr de Rod. Lang,” and archival notations “7/22/11,” “BLOGG2,” and “Eb.”