The Musée des Arts Décoratifs houses one of the world’s largest decorative arts collections with some 531,459 works divided into five chronological sections (the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the 17th and 18th centuries, the 19th century, Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Modern and Contemporary) and five thematic sections (graphic arts, jewelry, toys, wallpaper, glassware). These national collections embrace every aspect of artistic production in every field of the decorative arts, and represent a wide range of techniques: woodwork (ornamental carving, furniture making, wood trim), metalwork (gold, silver, iron, bronze, pewter), ceramics, glass work, leather work (caskets, bindings), painting and humbler arts such as straw marquetry, bead embroidery and painted metal.
From the start, the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs have largely been formed by donations and bequests: the Peyre, Guérin, Perrin, Maciet and Gould donations (furniture and cabinet work); the Doisteau, Grandjean and Maciet donations (gold and silver wares); the Fitzhenry, Maciet and Metman donations (ceramics); the Vever collection (seven hundred 19th-century jewelry pieces); the Doisteau collection (walking canes); the David David-Weill collection (Chinese cloisonné enamels)...