Tips on How to Purchase 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 visiting the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions 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 displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as very special presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't authentic or 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle fakes or replicas . Simply to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting 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. Be aware that an anonymous piece might still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and buy 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 also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do bring genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise 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 Kurt Criter will often have a business 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 art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with specific details, the piece is not authentic. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a big price difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes more difficult to determine credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than Going Here likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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 carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 terrific artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated 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 likewise have sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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