At the end of the 19th century, a new type of museum emerged and enjoyed great success in Europe and across all continents: the commercial museum. This institution accompanied the globalization of trade and colonial enterprises. The vast collections amassed in these museums were not intended for contemplation, but rather for economic intelligence and the commodification of the world. They subsequently fell completely into oblivion: their collections were buried or even destroyed, and their buildings were repurposed. To rediscover them is to understand the museum as an instrument of trade policy and to reinterpret the history of capitalism and colonization as a history of the gaze.