In what follows, we will outline a portrait of a man who, in the known socio-economic context of the nineteenth century, strived to work his way up from bourgeois collector to noble collector. As a result, he finds himself somewhat on the fringes of this special issue that focusses on aristocratic collecting practices. The ‘case Cavens’, nevertheless, merits a separate chapter. Through a short overview of his donations and collectors’ practices, it will be made clear that Cavens, a self-proclaimed nobleman, wanted to measure up to the nobility and adopts its customs, cultural practices and lifestyle in every action he undertook. The scrutinized documents will allow us to better understand his multifaceted personality that, on the one hand, strongly relates to his desire to acquire the noble title and, on the other hand, to his nationalist ideals. The latter will also reflect in the choice of the artefacts he was to collect.