Hi All,
I saw these last week too. I don't think they're very nice or very well made at all - most have badly applied, 'burnt' precious metal leaf - but each to their own!
I alerted Elizabeth & Timothy Harris to their presence as soon as I saw them. In my opinion, as suggested above, they are most certainly not Isle of Wight Studio Glass pieces at all, and nor do I think were they made 'officially' on the Isle of Man for IOWSG.
I think the quality is comparatively very poor, and the colours of the base glass (bar white - very, very rare - and black) are wrong for either studio. The shapes, however, are based on IOWSG designs produced there and mainly on the Isle of Man (St John's Crystal). My research for my book uncovered that these sorts of shapes in these sorts of colours and 'finishes' were produced just before the Isle of Man studio closed, and also by a couple of other studios/factories afterwards. As has been suggested, these may be from surviving late stock from the Isle of Man studio, or similar from another. Also, they may be being made today. The quality is comparatively poor (tho I'm sure I could only do worse!) and labour and materials, particularly in China, is cheap - so who knows? It's a cute, novelty line of fairly easily worked shapes that could feasibly sell very well in the West. I also never came across the name 'Studio Factory Glass' in my research.
Whatever their country of origin, they are derived from and closely resemble IOWSG designs, but are not purporting to be by them. Therefore, they are not really fakes in the truest sense of the description. It also depends whether IOWSG are or have since been able to protect the designs, including the Azurene finish, in any way.
Incidentally, the range of Azurene Minimal/Maximal animals is not made today. When they were made they were marked with black triangular labels, which can of course be removed. I've never, ever seen one signed by Michael Harris with his name - it'd be fun to see how he could fit it on such a small space!!
I hope they go away as they only create confusion, and I don't think that they are anywhere near as good as the IOWSG originals.
Best,
Mark
www.markhillpublishing.com