Osumi Yukie is the first woman metalsmith in Japan to be designated a Living National Treasure (Holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property) for her accomplishments in the field of metalwork. She is also the first artist to be awarded a Residency in Japanese Metalwork Design at the Freer and Sackler Galleries. Recognized for her artistic and technical skills, Osumi has mastered the demanding technique of metal inlay known as nunome zōgan. On the silver vessel forms that she shapes by hand, Osumi uses customized chisels to add a textured ground for inlays of gold and lead foils.  The cloth-like texture holds the inlay in place. Polishing adds shading and depth to the silver and lead tonalities and brings out the unchanging brilliance of the gold. Osumi appreciates the varied metals for the evocative qualities of their colors, a connection that she believes reaches far back in the Japanese connoisseurship of metalwork. As seen in these works, her recurrent design themes evoke the elusive patterns of roiling waves and wind sweeping over the surface of water or through mist and clouds. The counterpoint of hammered texture and inlaid motifs on the vessel’s undulating surface seems to defy material rigidity as it conveys passing moments in nature. These works are by Osumi Yukie (born 1945) and are in the collection of Shirley Z. Johnson.