Duck Marbles from the Seike family

[Ric]

2 hours ago, shiroaiko said:

Hi Ric, I love to see your marbles too!

Talking about the ribbed vane cats, the first cat's eye book by Marlow Peterson and Larry Castle has Seike's in page 18. They are classified as horseshoe-type.

I wish I would have kept my cache of "foreign" Cat's Eyes. Unfortunately, that's all I knew about them around 20 years or so ago when I parted with about 10 gallons of them - they were not American made.

I kick myself for that now that we are learning so much more about them. And it was very much against my nature, since I usually will not part with a marble that I can't identify.

[shiroaiko]

39 minutes ago, Ric said:

I wish I would have kept my cache of "foreign" Cat's Eyes. Unfortunately, that's all I knew about them around 20 years or so ago when I parted with about 10 gallons of them - they were not American made.

I kick myself for that now that we are learning so much more about them. And it was very much against my nature, since I usually will not part with a marble that I can't identify.

20 years ago is a long time ago...I wonder who got the 10 gallons of mystery marbles. I wish Mr. Morito could have done research on Japanese marbles and publish articles for the marble community two decades ago.  Below is an article titled "The Marble Boss Next Door" by Tsutomu Kushima, in the magazine Shosetsu Hoseki in 1999.

When Mr. Cohen asked Morito to “research the history of Japanese marbles,” he did the fieldwork. Back then, no one was seriously researching marbles, and he realized that without some sort of organization, it would be nearly impossible to gather reliable information. So, he decided to establish the Japan Marble Association himself.

Morito said, “Ideally, someone else with a genuine interest in marbles would take it seriously and do the work. But for now, I’m the one who knows the most about it. I just hope I can pass the baton to a folklorist or someone who’s willing to dig deeper, because I’ve got plenty of other things I want to do.”

[shiroaiko]

Submerged ribbon marbles.

 

[shiroaiko]

Ribbon marbles with a window, starting with darker reds.

 

Reds in a lighter shade.

In dark amethyst. 

Blues. 

 

Edited Friday at 02:12 AM by shiroaiko
I saved the draft before adding some description. Two photos deleted for redundancy.

[akroorka]

On 3/27/2025 at 8:04 AM, shiroaiko said:

Morito said, “Ideally, someone else with a genuine interest in marbles would take it seriously and do the work. But for now, I’m the one who knows the most about it. I just hope I can pass the baton to a folklorist or someone who’s willing to dig deeper, because I’ve got plenty of other things I want to do.”

He sounds like a very smart man shiroaiko.

I used to toss aside Cateyes like they were rocks so Rick and I am on the same page.

Quart jars of these sell like fire at a rummage sale--at least back then. I remember my wife having great luck with selling these at our last rummage sale about 15 years ago--the trouble was, after I gave her what she wanted and they sold--she went back into my basement stash and started filling jars without me knowing it.

She picked the wrong buckets for sure--we are still married😁.

Marble--On!!

[shiroaiko]

12 hours ago, akroorka said:

He sounds like a very smart man shiroaiko.

I used to toss aside Cateyes like they were rocks so Rick and I am on the same page.

Quart jars of these sell like fire at a rummage sale--at least back then. I remember my wife having great luck with selling these at our last rummage sale about 15 years ago--the trouble was, after I gave her what she wanted and they sold--she went back into my basement stash and started filling jars without me knowing it.

She picked the wrong buckets for sure--we are still married😁.

Marble--On!!

Sounds like your wife had an eye for value—even if it meant raiding your stash! 😂 I guess she selected things which appealed to her most. I know cat's eyes don’t always get a lot of love from collectors, but they're part of childhood memories to lots of people (as E. A. Kempski says in her book). Marbles can go from being “just rocks” to treasures once you start digging into their history and craftsmanship. I hope the research I’ve been doing on Japanese marbles helps with that.

Talking about Mr. Morito, too busy to research marbles may not be nice to say, but I can’t really blame him. He's the person who founded the Japan Marble Association, published newsletters and a marble book, planned marble events for kids, and even opened marble museums— while running a big business and pioneering fiber optics in Japan. He traveled around the world. His patents counted somewhere over 80 ( if my memory is accurate). He wasn’t retired when he dedicated his passion into marbles, either.

I have some marbles from Seike family for posting today. I hope you enjoy looking at them!

[shiroaiko]

White-base ribbon marbles.

[shiroaiko]

Patch marbles. 12.5-13.4 mm. 17 mm for the most of the marbles. 

[Ric]

Thank you for continuing to post here, Aiko! Those tricolor ribbons and patches must have been popular with children - I think are very attractive.

Do you know if or when production of these marbles stopped?

 

[shiroaiko]

2 hours ago, Ric said:

Thank you for continuing to post here, Aiko! Those tricolor ribbons and patches must have been popular with children - I think are very attractive.

Do you know if or when production of these marbles stopped?

 

Hi Ric, I also thought they are good... In Morito's "Marbles", similar looking marbles are shown as examples of 1945-1955 marbles (Showa 20's marbles). The 1959 Census is the last record I could find the entry of Seike's business, Nippon Special Glass Ball Mfg. Ltd. 

[YasudaCollector]

Wow! These are absolutely beautiful marbles!!! 😃😃😃 Thank you again for uncovering all of this history. I think its incredible when we as collectors can learn about and appreciate the people who made the marbles we collect. 😎

[Shamrock Marbles]

14 hours ago, shiroaiko said:

White-base ribbon marbles.

These are just awesome! The combination of color and simplicity cannot be beat. Thank you for sharing.

[shiroaiko]

10 hours ago, YasudaCollector said:

Wow! These are absolutely beautiful marbles!!! 😃😃😃 Thank you again for uncovering all of this history. I think its incredible when we as collectors can learn about and appreciate the people who made the marbles we collect. 😎

Hi Aidan, thanks for your comment!😃 When Reiko shared the story and marbles with me, sharing them with others became my duty. I hope my report reach to many people here too.

[shiroaiko]

10 hours ago, Shamrock Marbles said:

These are just awesome! The combination of color and simplicity cannot be beat. Thank you for sharing.

Hello Shamrock Marbles! Thanks for your interest. I'm happy to hear you like them. Below are variations of his marbles from local finds (not from the family).

 

[shiroaiko]

Patch and ribbons in various reds. 

White is supplied to the slots which make ribbons in these marbles. One ribbon looks blended with a bit of red.

[Shamrock Marbles]

29 minutes ago, shiroaiko said:

Hello Shamrock Marbles! Thanks for your interest. I'm happy to hear you like them. Below are variations of his marbles from local finds (not from the family).

 

Fruit Stripes! Those are beautiful. What kid (or adult) wouldn’t want those gems?

I have a couple of questions:

1) Where would one shop for vintage marbles in Japan?

2) Do you know the COE of these marbles? Are they similar to Satake Glass (COE 125)?

[Ric]

Wow, I agree - those are beautiful marbles - the colors are really nice!

[shiroaiko]

Fruit stripes is a lovely name! In Tokyo there is an antique shop called Toritori which specializes vintage toys. The shop owner does Instagram. Please find her posts @nishiogi_toritori. I'm sure you would enjoy her posts and find something you would like. 

I haven’t melted any of Seike’s marbles myself, so I don’t know the COE. For cat’s-eye base, makers typically used recycled cullet. The colored glass needs to be compatible with the base, so I’d guess they formulated the colors to suit whatever cullet was available at the time?

Satake started supplying glass to lampworkers in the early Showa era, but I haven’t come across any specific connection to marble makers—either transitionals or early machinemades. Have you heard of Kamitani? According to their records, they supplied colored glass to marble makers as early as the Taisho era. All the marble makers except Seike seem to use Kamitani colors. I once asked Kamitani about COE. They said they provide both soft and hard versions of each color so that marble makers could adjust for compatibility. 

I had been a lampworker for almost 20 years. I loved Satake, but also used Moretti/Effetre and other glasses like North Star. You know Satake and that surprises me! 

[Shamrock Marbles]

15 minutes ago, shiroaiko said:

Fruit stripes is a lovely name! In Tokyo there is an antique shop called Toritori which specializes vintage toys. The shop owner does Instagram. Please find her posts @nishiogi_toritori. I'm sure you would enjoy her posts and find something you would like. 

I haven’t melted any of Seike’s marbles myself, so I don’t know the COE. For cat’s-eye base, makers typically used recycled cullet. The colored glass needs to be compatible with the base, so I’d guess they formulated the colors to suit whatever cullet was available at the time?

Satake started supplying glass to lampworkers in the early Showa era, but I haven’t come across any specific connection to marble makers—either transitionals or early machinemades. Have you heard of Kamitani? According to their records, they supplied colored glass to marble makers as early as the Taisho era. All the marble makers except Seike seem to use Kamitani colors. I once asked Kamitani about COE. They said they provide both soft and hard versions of each color so that marble makers could adjust for compatibility. 

I had been a lampworker for almost 20 years. I loved Satake, but also used Moretti/Effetre and other glasses like North Star. You know Satake and that surprises me! 

Thank you for the link. Japanese toy robots and pressed steel are my other interests.

The reason I asked about COE is because Japan must import fuel. Some glass manufacturers used imported cullet (recycled) glass and added fluxes to further reduce the melting point, thus saving on fuel cost.

The downside is that the glass marbles chip easier.

Satake = 125

Moretti = 104

Spectrum = 96

Bulleseye = 90

Pyrex = 33

You have given me more to research. 

Arigato.

[shiroaiko]

5 minutes ago, Shamrock Marbles said:

Thank you for the link. Japanese toy robots and pressed steel are my other interests.

The reason I asked about COE is because Japan must import fuel. Some glass manufacturers used imported cullet (recycled) glass and added fluxes to further reduce the melting point, thus saving on fuel cost.

The downside is that the glass marbles chip easier.

Satake = 125

Moretti = 104

Spectrum = 96

Bulleseye = 90

Pyrex = 33

You have given me more to research. 

Arigato.

You are right. Japan has always been limited in natural resources for glassmaking. I’ve often wondered what COEs American marble makers were working with. Do you happen to know?

During the war, Japanese glassmakers had a hard time. They couldn’t import borate from America, which really impacted the quality of glass. For example, ampoules made during that period became poor in quality, and they couldn’t preserve the medicine inside properly.

Interestingly, Seike named his business “Seike Hard Glass Institute” before the war. He seems to aim to improve glass quality even then. 

[Ric]

1 hour ago, shiroaiko said:

I had been a lampworker for almost 20 years . . .

This is interesting to me, Aiko.

What sort of things did your lampwork produce?

[shiroaiko]

9 hours ago, Ric said:

This is interesting to me, Aiko.

What sort of things did your lampwork produce?

Mainly glass beads. I started lampworking in 1996, and it was kind of connected to my fond memories in Arizona. I was an exchangee at Northern Arizona University for one academic year. We had a small bead shop in downtown a hippie man ran. My marble hobby started in 1998. 

These are photos I shared with Brian Graham in December 2021, when we introduced ourselves. 

I made small number of marbles on torch. The glass is Moretti/Effetre for these pieces. Japanese Satake is kind of too soft and I found it harder to work with to make marbles. 

Again Moretti/Effetre. I loved the bright colors. These beads are worn with Kimono. 

Glass head pins for sewing❤️ The glass is Satake. The working temperature is low, so it's easier to make these kind of delicate things. 

I had a fascination with patina of old glass which inspired me to make this series of glass beads. The material is Satake and thick silver foil. 

Ocean themed. My love of seashells started as a child. 

 

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by shiroaiko
3 photos deleted. I come to remember it was Dec 2021 that I took these photos, so "or Jan next year" was deleted.

[Ric]

46 minutes ago, shiroaiko said:

Mainly glass beads. I started lampworking in 1996 . . .

Thank you for sharing this, Aiko. I have great admiration for people with creative and artistic talent, and it is obvious to me that you have both. I especially like the ocean themed pieces and the kimono beads, but my favorites are the sewing pins - they are so simple and yet so beautiful! The little envelopes are also very sweet. My wife would be overjoyed to receive those as a gift!

[shiroaiko]

10 minutes ago, Ric said:

Thank you for sharing this, Aiko. I have great admiration for people with creative and artistic talent, and it is obvious to me that you have both. I especially like the ocean themed pieces and the kimono beads, but my favorites are the sewing pins - they are so simple and yet so beautiful! The little envelopes are also very sweet. My wife would be overjoyed to receive those as a gift!

Thanks for the compliments! I was not successful or famous as a bead maker, but my love of glass has been strong and it still continues. I had to close my studio in Sendai in 2014, when I had my first and only son. He needed a medical help with his heart and lungs, and my life had changed completely. After 4 years and 7 months our beloved son passed away. I started dedicating my time for marble research after this. I am away from a torch for many years now. These things were the remembrance of my career in my 20s and 30s. Making those small pins was a pure joy. The glass itself is beautiful, I tried not to ruin the beauty. 

[akroorka]

16 hours ago, shiroaiko said:

I had to close my studio in Sendai in 2014, when I had my first and only son.

Sad stuff shiroaiko, sad stuff for sure.

Get back on that torch horse and---

Marble--On!!