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



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. 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 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 different retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as really distinct presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler replica, the question 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 that it isn't genuine and even made in Canada. 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other usual tourist mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or phonies . Just to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying 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 genuine pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house 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 shops do carry genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore should 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 reproduction will often have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever 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 certain piece with specific details, the piece is not authentic. It is probably not real if a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a huge rate difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

This can be a real gray area to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the original site store.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art kind 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 fantastic art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely 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 also have sites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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