Dejoux's bust shows Franklin with his head raised and tilted, as though he were listening to something. The brow is somewhat lower than on some images of Franklin, and the shape of the chin more pointed.

Franklin wears a waistcoat and coat, similar to those detailed by Houdon, but the three buttons are closed, and the buttonholes small. Below the coat, and forming the lower edge of the bust, is a robe wrapped around the figure's shoulders and crossed over the chest. It is signed on the back, below the edge of the collar, "N[?] DEJOUX Ft."

The image seems similar in some details to Houdon's representation of Franklin; however, it is not clear whether the similarity is the result of coincidence or copying. The last digit of the date on the signature is unclear, so some scholars feel that the absence of any documentation makes it imprudent to call this the earliest sculptural representation of Franklin.