The Musée de la Marine began in the seventeenth century as a collection of models of French ships, within the tradition of cabinets of curiosity and also with a teaching purpose for engineers and builders. A description of the models in the collection in 1756 included bark canoes from Canada. In 1827 Charles X. initiated the Musée de la Marine at the Louvre. Sailors, officers, and scientists of the French Marine, who sailed to all parts of the world, continued to bring back objects found in their travels to give to the King. Nineteenth century accounts of the model collection mention ethnographic works located with it. These works were transferred to the Musée d’archeologie nationale at the Château St. Jean Marlay, and then in 1909 they were moved to the Musée d'ethnographie du Trocadéro. From there they went to the Musée de l’Homme (Amérique), and then to the Musée du quai Branly. Given the early beginnings of the collection of the Musée de la Marine, ethnographic works from this collection could date from an early period of French presence in North America.