Louis-Rémy Robert was an early practitioner of photography in France and was part of a circle of photographers and artists centered around Sèvres that also included Victor Regnault (see Lot 24). Robert and Regnault balanced a scientific approach to their practice with an imaginative exploration of the medium’s potential. Robert worked at the famed porcelain manufactory at Sèvres, ultimately succeeding Regnault as director. Many of his photographs document the development of new techniques in the making, finishing, and glazing of porcelain objects. The waxed-paper negative offered here, like the best of Robert’s work of this type, transcends the documentary to become a meditation on form and light.