Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one inform apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later 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 artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trustworthy galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other typical tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture may 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 shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 often have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian site here nation, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a huge rate difference between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting 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 claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted 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 shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.