Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine 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 low-cost traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't really authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 also have websites so you could go shopping and buy genuine 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 genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason 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 will in some cases have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with specific details, the piece is not authentic. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too ideal in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will also be a huge cost distinction between genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it ends up being more difficult to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar 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 more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, proceed. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and More Info 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 likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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