An unidentified portly man poses in a full-length brocade dressing gown in this albumen carte-de-visite by Johnson's Art Gallery, Corner Main and Martin Streets, Abingdon, Illinois, dating to the mid-1860s based on the plain single-weight mount format and the early studio backdrop of molded plaster wall panels. The choice to be photographed in a dressing gown rather than a suit or formal coat is unusual and deliberately informal, suggesting either a man of considerable self-assurance or a portrait made in a domestic or semi-private context.

The subject is a heavy-set, broad-shouldered man with a completely bald head, a short goatee, and a commanding expression bordering on a scowl. He wears a long patterned brocade robe with wide lapels and deep cuffed sleeves over a white shirt with a large bow tie, dark trousers, and polished leather shoes. He stands with one hand resting on the back of a tufted Victorian parlor chair at his right, his weight settled and posture dominant.

The reverse bears the plain printed imprint of Johnson's Art Gallery, Cor. Main and Martin-Sts., Abingdon, Ill., with the notation "Negatives Preserved." A pencil notation reads "180" at the upper right.