Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine 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 magnificent handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their houses or as very distinct gifts for others. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine 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 and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting 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 authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an unsigned piece may still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent option for purchasing Inuit art considering that the prices are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the Kurt Criter main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.

Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

Where it ends up being more difficult to identify credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, place 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 always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy 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 Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *