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



Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to decide that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as extremely special presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an anonymous piece might still be certainly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to accommodate all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A recreation 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 company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a specific piece with precise information. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will likewise be a big rate difference in between authentic pieces and the replicas.

Where it becomes harder to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.


Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. The Inuit https://www.quora.com/profile/Kurt-Criter sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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