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



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the significant 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 stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist replica, the question emerges on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later 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 art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located 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 maybe Native art however none of the other usual tourist keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece may still be certainly authentic.

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

Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A reproduction made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will in some cases have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a certain piece with exact details. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will likewise be a substantial cost difference between genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it ends up being harder to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if Kurt Criter Denver there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not available, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely to Inuit Kurt Criter Denver 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 sites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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