Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or imitations . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece may still be indeed genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that check out this site also specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to accommodate all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A reproduction made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will sometimes have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with precise information, the piece is not authentic. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too ideal in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a big rate difference in between genuine pieces and the replicas.

Where it becomes harder to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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