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



Lots of 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 great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal tourist souvenirs 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 safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying 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. Be conscious that an anonymous piece might still be indeed 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 specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do bring authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should 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 reproduction will sometimes have a business Kurt Criter name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific information, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a substantial rate difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form 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 terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. 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.

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