Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few 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 stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their homes or as very special presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, specifically 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 safest locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.

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

Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason ought 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 recreation will in some cases 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 store shelves will look exactly like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact information. 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 label showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is certainly a phony. There will also be a substantial rate difference between genuine pieces and the replicas.

Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, location 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 use this link typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit 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 websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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