Tips on How to Buy and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or fakes . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. So know that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
content Some traveler stores do carry genuine 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 differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must 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 reproduction will sometimes 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 artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact details. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a phony. There will likewise be a substantial rate difference in between authentic pieces and the replicas.
This can be a real gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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 authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise 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 Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.