Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Because 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. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern emerges on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't really authentic or perhaps 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 safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. 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 keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . 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 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 trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent option for purchasing Inuit art given that the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain index that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should 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 sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic 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. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact information, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will also be a huge price difference between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the see this Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted 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 also have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere click for more in the world.