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 nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their houses or as very distinct gifts for others. Presuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. 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 purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one walks 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 only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, make certain that the piece see you are interested in comes with 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 but not all genuine pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece might still be certainly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs 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 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 nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with precise information, the piece is not genuine. It is probably not real if a piece looks too ideal in information with outright straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will also be a huge price distinction between authentic pieces and the replicas.

This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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