Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting increasingly more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as extremely special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really authentic or even 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal traveler souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or phonies . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece might still be indeed authentic.

A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent choice for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.

Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art along with the look at here now other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A recreation made of 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 authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact details. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Of course, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will also be a substantial cost distinction between authentic pieces and the replicas.

This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in More about the author the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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