Interesting Tsuba With Some Questions

[Isocyanide]

So I came across this tsuba:  http://www.seiyudo.com/tu-270515.htm

 

 

A photo that I took of the bird for comparison.

 

It depicts a Steller's Sea-Eagle next to...well the sea.  This interests me since I'm a serious birder and was in Hokkaido last March and was able to witness the scene depicted on the tsuba first hand. During the winter months Steller's follow the ice pack and a large number of them are found in Northeastern Hokkaido in the winter, namely around Rausu, Cape Notsuke and Nemuro. Very, very rarely are they found south of there.

 

So my question is how did a mainland Honshu Japanese come up with the idea for this tsuba.  I'm guessing during the Edo period very few people traveled far distances, and NE Hokkaido seems highly unlikely.

 

My other question is this mei actually Umetada?  Looking through known Umetada work I'm not finding any tsuba that depict birds.

 

And I guess the last question I have is regarding mounting tsuba to a wakizashi, is there an ideal tsuba size for the length of the blade.  My wakizashi is 20.9 in.

 

Thanks!

[Henry Wilson]

The composition of the tsuba appears to have been inspired by this tsuba by I think the Higo master Jingo.

 

 

This web page might be of interest:

http://markussesko.com/2014/10/

 

Concerning how the artist could have been inspired to use that specific type of bird, first of all, are you sure that it is in fact a Steller's Sea Eagle? The description from the sales site describes it as 鷹之兎狩図鍔 which translates as a 'hawk hunting a rabbit motif tsuba'. The markings on a typical Steller's Sea Eagle and the bird in the tsuba seem to be slightly different, especially on the wings:

 

 

I also think that Steller's Sea Eagles generally prey on fish and other sea birds. The motif is of the bird hunting a rabbit which may not be the Steller's typical prey. I also get the impression that the motif is of a gushing river as opposed to the sea.

 

Putting the above aside though, if it is a Steller's Sea Eagle, it is clear that people of the time must have known that such a bird existed as otherweise how could it be depicted on the tsuba? This in turn would suggest that people went north, saw the bird and past a description of it to others, finding its way to a particular tsuba smith, if he himself did not actually go there and see it first hand.

 

The mei does in fact read Umetada. It seems that the Umetada artist was emulating the composition of a classic tsuba.

 

As for the suitablilty of the tsuba for a wakizashi, I suppose it is all down to personal taste. The tsuba is 8cm by 7.7 cm diameter, which to me would probably be a bit too big for a wakizashi.

 

I hope this helps!!

[Isocyanide]

Thanks for the response Henry. Yeah it's not exactly a Steller's but to me it appears that was their intent.  I have seen very few tsuba depicting birds that are exactly accurate, this one is at least pretty close.  

 

I forgot they also winter in Korea.  Quite possible the Japanese observed them during their failed invasion of Korea in the late 1500s.

 

I'm still debating the tsuba size issue, my wakizashi is very thick.  I have a 6.8 cm x 6.5 cm tsuba and it's tiny on it, only fits up about 2/3 up the nakago.  Even if the nakago-ana was larger it'd look way too small.