“Willow with Starling and Peach with Golden Dove”

Sō Shiseki (1715–1786) was born in Edo and was a painter during the mid-Edo period. Details of his early life are unclear. In his mid-40s, he traveled to Nagasaki, where he studied the painting techniques of Shin Nanpin under his mentor Kumashiro Yuhi. He later became a disciple of the Chinese painter Sō Shigan, who had come to Japan. Taking his teacher's name, he adopted the name Sō Shiseki in the Chinese style. He was known for his realistic bird-and-flower paintings and, alongside Kakutei, became one of the leading painters of the Nanpin school.