Tips on The Best Ways 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 exploring the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really genuine and 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have 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 respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Just to be even more secure, 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 be aware that an anonymous piece might still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise 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 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 shop racks will look exactly like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact information. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Of course, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will also be a big price distinction between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it ends up being more difficult to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live click here for more and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.