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The aim of this paper is to present the Rey Lescure mission organised by the musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro in New Caledonia between 1929 and 1933. In spite of its success, notably with the enrichment of the Kanak collections, this mission remains until now as little known as its executor, Pastor Philippe Rey Lescure, missionary in Grande Terre (New Caledonia) and nephew of Maurice Leenhardt. Its study makes it possible to retrace the history of the mission from its genesis to its presentation to the public in 1934 in the exhibition “Ethnologie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie”. More generally, it illustrates the ambitious acquisition policy put in place by Paul Rivet and Georges-Henri Rivière when they ran the museum.