Duck Marbles from the Seike family

[shiroaiko]

My interest in Duck Marbles started from the brochures illustrated in “Marbles/Biidama” (2003) by Yukoh Morito, a well-known marble collector in my country who passed away in 2016. In 1992 he founded Japan Marble Association, making a partnership with this forum and Marble Collectors Society of America in the following year. 

His book “Marbles”  features a Japanese marble history section for two pages.

On page 29 is where we find the brochures of Nippon Special Glass Ball Mfg. Co. Ltd.. The company’s brand was Duck Marbles.

 

According to the brochures, the company started its business in Hanaten, Osaka city in 1924. The founder, Naoyuki SEIKE, says he and his team of college graduated engineers invented a semi-automatic manufacturing process for marble making at that time. He also refers to American invention of marble machines in 1900 ca.. The brochure in Japanese was printed in 1951, whereas the English version was published in 1952. He had obtained more than 20 patents and utility model rights from Japan Patent Office. The monthly marble production reached 50,000,000 in 1952. (but the monthly production in 1951 was 400,000.)

The original brochures were contributed by Seishin Seike, the second son of Naoyuki Seike, to the book. The surname Seike is nothing like Suzuki (mine). Also the first name Seishin is very uncommon. I saw a light of hope in this fact and started a search for the contact information of the same name person. I reached his wife Reiko (85), in Hirakata city, Osaka on 7 Dec. 2021. Below is what I learned from the lady on the phone. 

 

Naoyuki Seike, her father-in-law, ran a marble factory in Hanaten and that he made marbles was true. But it was a long time before her marriage that Naoyuki's business had ended and went bankruptcy. Reiko married to Seishin in 1960, a union arranged by her senior brother who worked as a surgeon in Maizuru, Kyoto. Seishin was the second son of Naoyuki. When they met, Seishin was not young (30). He had already been working for Zojirushi Magic Pot company in Hanaten as an engineer, where he led his team to a success of the first electric rice cooker. After 3 years of their marriage, in 1963, Naoyuki passed away at the age over 90. Before his death each of his children was given a bucketful of glass marbles he had kept. His 3 boys were all engineers including one who died very early in his late teens or 20’s. He was the first son who died in an accident where he fell from the marble factory’s roof during a repair.

Sadly, Seishin passed away more than 10 years ago. Reiko kept the bucket since then. She assured that the marbles she had now in her apartment were originally inherited from her father-in-law. She washed the marbles and sent half the bucket to me. I opened a box full of marbles at night on 10 Dec.

 

 

[shiroaiko]

 

Edited Saturday at 11:32 PM by shiroaiko
I added one picture.

[Ric]

Wow, Aiko, this is great - an excellent story! Some of the marbles are very unexpected - such a variety. I will no doubt spend much time studying this post. Thank you very much for sharing it with us!

This was the first marble that caught my eye . . .

 

 

[davesnothere]

1 hour ago, shiroaiko said:

 

 

 my jaw just dropped , this is gold . I see a lot of marbles that sit in my unidentified marbles.

I have two of that green cat type with all 8+ fingers and a purple 4 vane that matches the purple here.

 

 

 

 

 

[shiroaiko]

Marbles with orange vanes.

Some ribbed vanes count 12. 

 

 

A group of three. 

 A combination of thick vanes (opaque orange) and wispy structure (transparent orange).

 

 

Another group of 6 marbles in orange. Some got tinted base glass. 

One big vane in the center. One submerged ribbon.

One marble has a big spidery cutline. Others got smooth ones which are not noticeable. 

 

[shiroaiko]

5 minutes ago, davesnothere said:

 

Happy to hear that you got Naoyuki Seike's marbles! Is Canada the source of your marbles? When I posted the marbles from the Seike family first in AAM, no one knew his marbles. Later Elizabeth A. Kempski got a Duck Agate box from Australia. 

[davesnothere]

2 minutes ago, shiroaiko said:

Happy to hear that you got Naoyuki Seike's marbles! Is Canada the source of your marbles? When I posted the marbles from the Seike family first in AAM, no one knew his marbles. Later Elizabeth A. Kempski got a Duck Agate box from Australia. 

Canadian sourced. I purchased a multi thousand lot of vintage Asian made glass. So many questions with them  came up. I can spot azuma fairly easy and there were much fewer.

I even started thinking some of the patches were vacor imports? Still possible hard to know for sure.

You've created a another problem I need to find them and sort now .

Lol!  Thanks for the post too.

[shiroaiko]

4 hours ago, Ric said:

Wow, Aiko, this is great - an excellent story! Some of the marbles are very unexpected - such a variety. I will no doubt spend much time studying this post. Thank you very much for sharing it with us!

This was the first marble that caught my eye . . .

 

 

Yes, we are thankful for the story and the marbles Reiko shared with us. I think the variety of marbles convey the passion Naoyuki had about marbles. He loved experiments.

Did you know? The purple ribbon marble which caught your eyes also appears in Ziggysora's 2012 post at AAM, "Japan striped vintage marbles, Figure 8". 

All the color varieties are included in the marbles from the family. 

 

[shiroaiko]

Seike's cat’s eyes in different colors. 

.

The yellow is like neon yellow. 

I enjoyed taking pictures of white-purple variants.

I was fascinated by the shifts of colors.

Some fracture. Bigger vanes always have the risk, when the colors are not compatible enough. I guess no marble makers put them in an oven for annealing.

Edited 3 minutes ago by shiroaiko
One more photo is added.

[Alan]

Another great post expanding our knowledge.  Thank you.

[Tommy]

[shiroaiko]

6 hours ago, Alan said:

Another great post expanding our knowledge.  Thank you.

You are welcome.❤️I still have lots of pictures to be shared. Please look at them when you have time. 

[shiroaiko]

3 hours ago, Tommy said:

😃❤️

[davesnothere]

@shiroaiko

Wrong information sorry

 

 

[shiroaiko]

 

8 hours ago, davesnothere said:

@shiroaiko

I've started sorting here's a few I  sorted.  Some may be mk or wvs .

For the most part these are milky white base and they resemble cheap peltier and alleys at a glance.

Too me they look about 70s 80s time frame. I included the green 8 fingers, though I think they are older.

I have some older fiquire 8s mostly mint found together I'll post them later.

One picture with flash 

From ebay listed as Duck marbles 

Thanks for the examples of American swirls. 

Ebay marbles are sometimes not reliable... 

[shiroaiko]

The marbles from the family continue.

3 cat's eye marbles with uneven vanes.  

 

 

 

2 marbles with a combination of a vane and ribbons. The light purple turns dark on the surface.

Edited 31 minutes ago by shiroaiko
One photo is added.

[shiroaiko]

 

[shiroaiko]

The two have hybrid vanes. Seike is the maker who made Stripey cats. 

You would see white sand like bits which look like "fish disease" on the left. 

When I visited glass makers in Osaka, I asked questions about the spots whenever I went. Every one agrees that opaque white doesn't have such a problem in a natural situation of firing. 

My guess is Seike mixed refractory material which is made into powder with opaque white. 

 

The vanes are in a combination of yellow and orange for this marble. 

[shiroaiko]

Purple ribbons on bicolor base glass. The purple shines metallic although it is not a luster sheen. 

 

A few got bicolor stripes of purple and white.