Phebe Dunn is seated facing the camera in this albumen carte de visite produced by Ellisson, successor to R. A. Lord, at 164 Chatham Street, New York. The portrait dates to the 1860s based on the studio imprint style and the sitter's dress, and it was almost certainly made for commercial sale as a sideshow or circus novelty card. Dunn was documented in circus records as weighing 487 pounds, a figure inscribed on the reverse of this very card alongside her name and age of 18.

She wears a silk or taffeta dress with a heavily pleated bodice, a wide waistband, and full gathered skirt, with a white short-sleeved chemisette beneath. A beaded necklace encircles her throat, a small brooch is pinned to the left side of her bodice, and a pearl or bead bracelet is visible on her right wrist. Her dark hair is center-parted and dressed close to the head.

Phebe Dunn appeared as a featured attraction in American circus and dime museum exhibitions during the 1860s, a period when promoters including those connected to P. T. Barnum's circuit regularly commissioned CDV portraits of performers for audience sale. The reverse inscription reads: "Phebe Dunn / Age 18 / Wght 487 / Hght 5 ft. 5 -" with the Ellisson studio imprint below.