Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas 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 different retail shops and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their houses or as very unique presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the question arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other normal tourist mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece may still be certainly authentic.

A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Due to the fact that of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great alternative for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.

Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos 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. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include 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. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact details, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece their website includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it check out this site is certainly a fake. There will also be a big price difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes harder to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handmade however 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 genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not offered, proceed. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. 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 securely 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 likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally 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 also have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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