Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Simply to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying 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 genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an anonymous piece may still be certainly genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also focus on genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great choice for purchasing Inuit art given that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.
Some traveler shops do carry genuine Inuit art as http://journals.oregondigital.org/index.php/OURJ/user/viewPublicProfile/5504 well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide 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 and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 authentic 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.