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



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the splendid 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 locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their houses or as very special gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to find out 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the credible galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian 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 but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase 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 likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should 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 in some cases have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a specific piece with precise details. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a fake. There will also be a big cost distinction between authentic pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise 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 type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in 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 authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also 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 but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Kurt Criter Denver Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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