Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Buy 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 splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as very distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't genuine 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 art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally 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 possibly Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So know that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for buying Inuit art since the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.

Some tourist shops look at these guys do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.

Where it becomes more difficult to identify credibility are with the recreations that are also made of 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 but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not offered, proceed. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely 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 so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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