Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in traveler areas 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 safest locations to buy Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or replicas . Simply to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.

A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could 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 concentrate on genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a excellent alternative for purchasing Inuit art considering that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure credibility.

Some traveler stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.

Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. 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 local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely Kurt Criter to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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