Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate 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 regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the respectable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown tourist locations of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with fakes or replicas . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece might still be indeed genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A reproduction made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An genuine 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 details, the piece is not authentic. 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 features a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a big price difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes harder to figure out credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may Kurt Criter Denver even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but 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 official 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 Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or you can find out more Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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