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 country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their houses or as very distinct presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist imitation, the concern occurs on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't really authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, particularly 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 most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown tourist locations of major 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 tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted 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 might still be indeed genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art because the rates are normally lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one should beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise include the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.

Some traveler shops do bring authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos navigate to this website in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine 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 business 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 artwork and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact information, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a huge price distinction in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes more difficult to determine credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not available, proceed. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form 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 artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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