It topped proceedings at £26,000 (plus buyer’s premium), selling to an online buyer from France.
Buthaud was heavily influenced by African tribal art: here the 2ft (60cm) vessel is decorated with a stylised crocodile and fish to one side and a woman holding a bowl to the other. It carries a painted RB monogram to the base. The estimate of £1000-2000 was doubtless part of its appeal, although the vase had a restored crack to the body and a replaced finial to the cover.
A yet larger 3ft 2in (96cm) Buthaud vase and cover of the same form painted with a female nude, one of a well-documented series of four vases commissioned by pharmacist Monsieur Rivière in 1928, sold for £28,000 at Christie’s in 2014.
Baker was among the new recruits to Roseberys in late 2017, joining in the wake of the closure of Christie’s South Kensington.
