. The rich natural resources enabled the production of prestige goods which were displayed and distributed at the potlatch festivals. These were held to celebrate various events, for instance the conferment or validation of such privileges as chieftainship, weddings or totem-pole raising. During the potlatch, masked dancers represented mythical ancestral or animal figures. Toward the end of the 18th century, early European travellers brought back 'curiosities' such as masks, woven hats, decorated spoons or wooden dishes from the Northwest Coast. Later, these objects aroused the interest of museums and connoisseurs and stimulated collecting in the second half of the 19th century.

Mask of a Nulamal or clown dancer
Kwakiutl
Jacobsen Collection, 1882