Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't really authentic 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 art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the trusted 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.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other normal traveler souvenirs such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with fakes or replicas . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal 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 but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great choice for buying Inuit art because the rates are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise come with the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it.
This can be a genuine gray area to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as Your Domain Name piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide 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 in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, 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 genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely 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 could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.