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

Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people 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 low-cost traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't really 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 fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional 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 locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have go to website only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade 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 might still be certainly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might 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 credible online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store 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 authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine 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 fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.