Snakeskin Vase by René Buthaud, circa 1930

René Buthaud was born in Saintes on December 14, 1886. He was a student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux from 1903–07 and on receiving a grant from the Bordeaux municipal authorities, went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts until 1913. Here he concentrated on painting and engraving. He was trained when he was very young by an engraver on silver who taught him how to handle a burin. In 1911, many of his portraits and landscapes were exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français. They were awarded the Attainville Prize, an honor comparable to the Prix de Rôme. His engravings would eventually receive the second Prix de Rôme in 1914.