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Carp, Shibata Zeshin (1807–1891), Japan, Edo period or Meiji era, late 19th century, lacquer on paper panel with metal powder, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, Freer Gallery of Art, F1963.11

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Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真

Shibata Zeshin (1807–1891) was both a painter and a lacquer artist during the transition from the Edo period to the Meiji period in Japan. Zeshin was apprenticed to a lacquer craftsman as a child, and became a well-known print designer, lacquerer, and painter in the style of the Maruyama-Shijō school. He was born and lived in Edo and was one of the handful of artists whose works were collected during their lifetime by Westerners in the late nineteenth century.