shoubusshi　小仏師
CATEGORY:　art history / sculptures
　
Also written 少仏師. The term first used in the early Heian period (9c) for Buddhist sculptors working in a team, subordinate to a master sculptor *daibusshi 大仏師. As the demand for sculptures increased, workshops, *bussho 仏所, were set up where up to several hundred shobusshi served as assistants to the daibusshi. During the Heian period (9-12c) the size of commissioned works increased and complex construction methods developed, such as the jointed block technique, *yoseki-zukuri 寄木造. This led to a division of labour where shobusshi specialized in various skills, for example making metal and jeweled decorations for a statue (see *kazari busshi 餝仏師) or applying gold-leaf (see *hakushi 薄師).
　
　

　
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*busshi 仏師 　
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