9 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. silver gelatin photograph affixed to mat along upper edge. Verso bears pencil inscriptions including, "'Tobacco Auction' by Dearing from Chatham, VA. ca 1885."

Many men are shown gathered in a warehouse, posed amidst numerous piles of tobacco bundles that appear to be labeled, likely with lot numbers and other information. Prominent in the right foreground is an African American or mixed race man wearing a long coat and farmer's style hat. Advertising signs for "The Bates Shoe" by J. W. Marks & Co. and "Walk-Over Shoes" by Whitehead & Yeatts, both companies located in Chatham, line the overhead beams of the warehouse.

The tobacco warehouse auction system developed in Virginia in the 19th century. Before, buyers largely relied on inspectors' notes for affirmation of the quality of the leaf they were purchasing. A need for buyers to be able to inspect the product before purchasing, in part, led to the rise of the warehouse auction system that became popular in Virginia and North Carolina tobacco markets.