Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine 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 splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form 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 wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't really authentic and 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 terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in traveler locations 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 places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal tourist souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.

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 specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for purchasing Inuit art since the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise feature the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.

Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all kinds 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 needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 reproduction will in some cases 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 artwork and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with specific information, the piece is not authentic. It is probably not real if a piece looks too perfect in information with outright straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is certainly a phony. There will also be a substantial price distinction between authentic pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes harder to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, https://www.buzzfeed.com/kurtcriter carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art kind 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 terrific art work, 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 authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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