Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas 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 numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as extremely special presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't really authentic or 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, particularly in tourist areas 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 most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Just to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing 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 know that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art given that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise feature the main Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some traveler shops do carry genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation 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 in some cases have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves use this link will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with precise information, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a phony. There will likewise be a big price distinction between authentic pieces and the replicas.
This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted 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 however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites go to my blog so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.