Tips on How to Purchase and Buy Authentic 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 spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as extremely unique presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap traveler replica, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on 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 regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious in other places in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.

A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent alternative for buying Inuit art because the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one must take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise come with the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.

Some traveler stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 sometimes have a company name on site here 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 art work and nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact details. If a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is certainly a fake. There will likewise be a huge price distinction in between authentic pieces and the imitations.

This can be a real gray area to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims 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 carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling her explanation in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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