Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of 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 global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the question emerges on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just 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 artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other usual tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Just to be even safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian 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 conscious that an anonymous piece may still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great choice for buying Inuit art since the prices are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.
Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore ought 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 reproduction will in some cases have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific information, the piece is not authentic. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a fake. There will also be a huge price difference between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes harder to identify credibility are with the recreations that are likewise made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally 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 likewise have sites visit the website so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.