Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as great keepsakes for their homes or as really distinct presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist replica, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual traveler keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Simply to be even safer, make certain that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an anonymous piece may still be certainly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good alternative for buying Inuit art because the rates are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some traveler shops dig this do carry genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to accommodate all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will 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 ever feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact details, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Of course, if a piece features a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a phony. There will likewise be a huge rate difference between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being harder to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are also 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 indicating that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, carry on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely 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 likewise have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.