Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as extremely special presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap traveler imitation, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't 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 art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest 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 however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art given that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. 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 reproduction made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation 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 art work and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise information, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Of course, if a piece features a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a fake. There will likewise be a big price difference between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may 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 probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. 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 acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture go to my site may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.