Dosho Shibayama

Works attributed to the Shibayama family (inro artists) bear the signature "Dosho." The family artist tradition was founded at the end of the 18th century, and markes by minute encrustations of diverse materials. The style became increasingly popular during the 19th century, when the trend in lacquer decoration shifted toward gaudy and elaborate detail. it was this school that introduced encrustations of mosaic carvings of different materials which simulated flesh-colored lifelike images. Shibayama artists carefully sculpted their encrustations, giving tiny pieces a three-dimensional appearance. The word Shibayama has come to be a generic term for this type of work rather than being merely a family name. Their work is most frequently found in inro, particularly on gold background. Generally the gold lacquer was prepared by one artist and the encrusted work added by another, and many of these bear two signatures: one of the lacquerer and the other of the encruster. Members of this family often worked with lacquerers of the late Kajikawa school who would prepare and finish the lacquer ground. Different members of the family had separate workshops and adopted different styles. They established various schools throughout Japan and worked for many generations, producing a great variety of styles and techniques of metal-ware. Members of the family occassionally executed metalwork for inro decoration. Source: Melvin and Betty Jahss. Inro and Other Miniature Forms of Japanese Lacquer Art (Tokyo, 1971), pp. cclxxii, xxv-xxx. (via Google Books)