Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to shop for 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.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian 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 but not all authentic pieces are signed. So know that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.
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. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should 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 reproduction will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact information. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will likewise be a big price distinction in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being more difficult to identify credibility are with the reproductions 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 kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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, proceed. The find this authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit 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 also have websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.