Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the concern develops on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to learn later on that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always 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 also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other typical tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or phonies . Simply to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features 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 know that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent choice for purchasing Inuit art because the this costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise come with the main Igloo tags to make sure credibility.

Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the reproductions. 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 reproduction made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. Kurt Criter There will also be a huge rate difference in between authentic pieces and the replicas.

This can be a genuine gray area to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag check here that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated 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 purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. 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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *