Three soldiers pose amid the bombardment-shattered ruins of Fort d'Issy in this albumen-print CDV from the Siege of Paris series published circa 1870-71. P. Laforge was a French publisher active in Paris in the 1860s, and the title printed on the mount's face identifies the view as part of a documented series recording the siege. Fort d'Issy was one of the fortifications built south of Paris, and it was quickly silenced during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

Three uniformed soldiers occupy the foreground, one seated on the frame of a large-wheeled artillery caisson, one standing at its side, and one crouching at left amid strewn timber and debris. Behind them rises the gutted shell of a multi-story stone building, its mansard roof collapsed, its window openings blown through, and its facades deeply cratered by artillery fire.

After the disastrous French defeat at Sedan and the capture of Napoleon III, the Prussians surrounded Paris in September 1870. The city held out despite famine and great hardship until a Prussian bombardment with heavy siege guns led to its surrender on 28 January 1871. Photographs documenting the destruction at the outlying forts constitute some of the earliest war-ruin photography in the French tradition.

The face of the mount bears the printed title in ornate typeface: "Siège de Paris 1870-1871 / Vue prise au Fort d'Issy / Q.V. à Paris" (Siege of Paris 1870-1871 / View taken at Fort d'Issy / For sale in Paris). The reverse bears an oval ink stamp reading "Estampes Photographies Albums & Papeteries / P. Laforge / 206, R. de Rivoli, Paris," with a pencil notation "3/24/14" and an additional alphanumeric notation along the right margin.