Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/98

RV 76 shape two thin plates of metal, one for the back, the other for the front, of the projected figure, and subsequently riveting them together at the edges. Many examples of a similar style of workmanship are seen in Korea, and confirmation is thus incidentally furnished of the tradition which assigns to Korean artists the credit of having been Japan's original instructors in the sculpture of religious images. Yet no name of any of these Korean teachers has been preserved. The first sculptor mentioned in Japanese annals is Shiba Tachito, a Chinese immigré, who is said to have come to Japan in the year 560, and to have received from the Emperor the title of kuratsukuri no obito, or head architect. His son, Shiba Tasu-na, succeeded to the office, and it is recorded that many sacred effigies were chiselled in wood either by these artists thenselvesthemselves [sic] or under their instruction. They also superintended the building of Buddhist temples which, though solid and imposing edifices, did not, at that remote era, receive the wealth of interior decoration in glyptic work, lacquering and painting, for which Buddhist places of worship subsequently became remarkable. No authenticated specimens of sculpture by either Shiba Tachi-to or Shiba Tasu-na are now in existence, but from the time of Shiba Tori, grandson of Shiba Tachi-to, credible examples survive. This sculptor, generally known as Tori Busshi, attained extraordinary fame. His skill, which seems to have completely overshadowed that of his contemporaries or predecessors, receives from posterity a significant tribute, namely, that every fine carving possessing any claim to great antiquity is habitually ascribed to him by ignorant people, and some have not even hesitated to regard him as the painter of