Otto von Bismarck, known as the Iron Chancellor of Germany, is portrayed in this albumen carte de visite in a composed three-quarter bust, his gaze directed slightly left of frame with a characteristically stern, heavy-lidded expression. Carte de visite photographs of Bismarck were made by the Numa Blanc studio in Paris, and this example bears the imprint of Numa Blanc with Langerock as successor, placing it between 1869 and 1878 when Langerock operated at 29, Boulevard des Italiens as Numa Blanc's associate and eventual successor at that address.

The subject wears a dark civilian frock coat with a white shirt and a loosely knotted bow tie at the collar. His prominent walrus mustache, broad forehead, and receding temples are rendered with fine tonal gradation against a plain, neutral studio ground, the vignetting softening toward the lower edge of the image.

Bismarck became Prussian prime minister in 1862 and would go on to architect German unification in 1871, serving as the first Chancellor of the German Empire. The studio's rear imprint identifies Numa Blanc as painter-photographer to His Majesty the King of Prussia ("Peintre-Photographe de S.M. le Roi de Prusse"), a royal warrant consistent with Bismarck's prominence in Prussian and German political life during this period.

The reverse bears a purple studio imprint reading "Numa Blanc / Langerock Succt / Peintre-Photographe / de S.M. le Roi de Prusse / 29, Bould des Italiens, 29 / Paris" (Numa Blanc / Langerock, Successor / Painter-Photographer / to His Majesty the King of Prussia / 29, Boulevard des Italiens, 29 / Paris), with exhibition medal vignettes citing Paris and London awards including the Paris 1867 gold medal, and an additional stamped address reading "43, Boult des Capucines, Paris." The name "Bismarck" is inscribed in pencil at the top of the reverse.