In 1881 the Berlin Museum of Ethnology sent Johan Adrian Jacobsen on an expedition to the Northwest Coast where he collected almost 3,000 objects, including a Haida totem pole over eight meters in height. Virtually overnight, Berlin had acquired one of the best and most magnificent Northwest Coast collections in Europe. This was then enlarged by the addition of smaller collections, for instance that of Franz Boas.

Half mask of the Kwakiutl
purchased in 1885 by Franz Boas