Tips on Ways To Buy and Purchase 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 spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their houses or as very special gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist replica, the concern develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't authentic or 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 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 locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown tourist locations of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical traveler keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with fakes or replicas . Simply to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian 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 genuine pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly genuine.

A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great alternative for buying Inuit art considering that the prices are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise feature the main Igloo tags to make sure credibility.

Some traveler stores do carry genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all kinds of travelers. https://myspace.com/kurtcriter When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must 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 recreation will sometimes 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 absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with specific details, the piece is not authentic. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a fake. There will also be a big cost difference between authentic pieces and the imitations.

Where it ends up being more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely 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, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine 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 wonderful art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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