Rossa Matilda Richter, performing under the stage name Zazel, was an English aerialist who became known as the first human cannonball at the age of 17. This CDV was produced by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, founded in 1854 and among the most prominent commercial photography firms in Victorian Britain, and dates to circa 1877, consistent with Zazel's debut season at the Royal Aquarium, London.

Richter perches atop the open mouth of a large suspended cannon, her bare legs crossed at the ankle and her decorated performance costume, a short, form-fitting leotard with floral or foliate embellishment at the bodice, clearly visible. The cannon is suspended by ropes within a tall iron scaffold fitted with rings and rigging overhead, and a safety net is stretched across the lower portion of the apparatus. Two male attendants in dark frock coats appear at the frame's left and right edges below.

In 1877, Richter was the first person to be fired out of a cannon, in front of a large crowd at the Royal Aquarium. Over the course of her career she achieved international fame and travelled around the UK, Europe, and America with her multiple daredevil acts. Zazel's outfit, based on Jules Léotard's famous streamlined costume, attracted significant attention from Victorian audiences unaccustomed to seeing a woman perform in such attire.

The recto mount is printed in red at the lower center: "ZAZEL," with "STEREOSCOPIC COY." at the lower left and "COPYRIGHT" at the lower right. The verso carries the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company's full decorative backmark, including the notation "Prize Medal for Portraiture, Vienna Exhibition 1873," the Prince of Wales feathers device, and medallion vignettes for offices in Berlin, London, Dublin, and New York; a paper label affixed to the reverse bears the penciled inventory notation "E1102/388."