A veiled woman and a mustachioed man in full winter mourning dress make up this somber CDV size ferrotype, a portrait of grief rendered with unusual visual weight for the tintype format. The heavy outerwear on both subjects and the fur-trimmed accessories suggest the photograph was made in winter, possibly shortly after a bereavement, with the subjects arriving at the studio dressed exactly as they would have appeared in public. No photographer's imprint is visible.

The woman stands at left wearing a dark mourning bonnet with a full black veil drawn across her face, a dark shawl or cape, and a long fur stole draped over her shoulder and arm. A brooch is visible at her collar. She turns her gaze slightly downward and to the right toward her companion rather than toward the camera. The man sits at right in a heavy double-breasted wool overcoat with large buttons, a dark fur-trimmed cap pulled low, and his hands clasped in his lap. He looks directly forward with a composed but subdued expression.

A shaggy fur or fleece-covered prop occupies the left foreground between the two figures. The plain light background and the absence of studio props beyond the fur piece give the image an unadorned, documentary quality consistent with the gravity of the occasion.