Tips on How to Purchase and Buy Authentic 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 spectacular 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 locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as very unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later on that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Just to be even safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian 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 however not all authentic pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece may still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A recreation made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will her response not be cold to the touch. A reproduction 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 genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise details. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a substantial cost difference between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes harder to determine credibility 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 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 probably not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed read what he said that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.