A nineteenth century French soldier stands erectly in the center of this watercolor and graphite sketch. He wears a knee length coat with a mandarin collar and narrow sleeves, slightly fitted at the waist. The coat has a single vertical row of nine amber colored buttons starting with a small red bow at each shoulder and then single beads running down the chest to end toward the center of the waist. Very tight leggings and square-toed moderately high heels complete the outfit. A relatively flat, small cap with a gray rim and red center sits on his head, slightly cocked toward his right. Thick curly light hair rims his medium skinned face. He has heavy eyebrows and a long, but very sparse mustache and goatee. A lighted cigarette protrudes from the right side of his closed mouth and he seems to be wearing a monocle on his left eye, attached to the top of his coat by a thin chain. His hands are tucked behind him holding a long thin stick that appears to be a riding crop.While the soldier’s portrait is the clear focus of this work, very faint sketches of a house can be seen peeking behind him on his left, and to his right, the faint outlines of a slightly bent man walking with a walking stick is barely discernible.