Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee 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 authenticity are always the reputable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece might still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to accommodate all types of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNxmDR0Lf7eKav0Z4XkSZcWl9N4D2c9qa Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 often have a company 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 store shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too best in information with outright straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is undoubtedly a fake. There will likewise be a big price distinction in between authentic pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are also 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 kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with 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, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live click this and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted 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 likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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