The collection consists of twenty ethnographic albumen prints of North American Indians, commissioned by Prince Roland Bonaparte and photographed by Alfred Ayotte, plus two additional photographs of Bonaparte. The twenty albumen prints are part of a rare portfolio of thirty-five photographs titled Peaux Rouge: Collection Anthropologique du Prince Roland Bonaparte. They are sitting studio portraits of ten Northern Plains American Indians, two portraits each, full-face and profile. Photographs measure about 22 x 16.8 cm. and are mounted on heavy cardboard, with the series statement written in black ink at the foot of each plate. They are numbered in ink at the top left corner of the mount, each pair having the same number. All twenty plates bear Bonaparte's blind stamp with a crowned eagle: "Collection du Prince Roland Bonaparte." The American Indians pictured are primarily from Omaha and the Northern Plains. Represented in the collection are, in this order, John Pilcher, Homme Connu, Inside Man, Bright Eye (Susette La Flesche (1854-1903)), Hard Chief, Chef Du Bande, Mnigh-Di-Tai (Plains woman), White Crow, Luune Dure, and Beautiful Hill and Village Maker (a Plains woman and an Omaha boy). There are two additional photographs of Bonaparte which are not part of the Peaux Rouge collection. One is a standing studio photograph with Bonaparte leaning on a chair, measuring 26.8 x 20.5 cm; the second is a group photograph on board an Italian ship, measuring 23.2 x 18 cm. Both photographs bear the blind stamp of "Etienne Carjat & Cie., Photographe."

Princeton University holdings are plates numbered 1, 4-7, 9, 12-14, and 16.