In 1935 Anna and Franciszek Laskowski endowed the Museum with the large legacy of Maciej Wentzl which included glassware, ceramics, jewellery (with some patriotic pieces), timepieces and snuffboxes.

During World War II the department containing the valuable collection of Erazm Barącz was liquidated. Decorative art objects from the collection were therefore transferred to the Department of Decorative Art, for example Empire and Biedermeier furniture and several pieces of furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries, French and Polish clocks, Italian majolicas and Dutch faiences.

After World War II large donations of decorative art pieces were rare. In 1948 the Museum acquired the legacy of Mieczysław Gąsecki including cordovans from the end of the 17th century, and in 1949 the valuable collection of Leon Kostka which included gold pieces, jewellery, timepieces, snuffboxes, gems, and glassware. In 1951 Elza Krausowa bequeathed furniture, glassware, porcelain and faiences to the Museum.

When the Museum took over the collections of the former Industrial Museum in Krakow in 1950, some of the objects remained in the building at 9 Smoleńsk St, though the Industrial Museum's artistic collections contributed many valuable artefacts to the Department of Decorative Art, for example gold items from Gdańsk, Augsburg and Nuremburg, Czech Biedermeier glassware and glassware in historical styles, furniture and musical instruments, as well as a large quantity of Polish and foreign ceramics.

The next large donation was made in 1987 and 1996 when Ryszard Mehoffer and his sister Magdalena Skarżyńska donated furniture and other items for the decoration of the biographical museum of Józef Mehoffer.

In 1995 and 1997 the Museum was endowed with the legacy of Józef Czapski, donated by Elżbieta Łubieńska, which mainly consisted of workshop equipment and memorabilia items from Maisson Laffitte.

The collection of the Department of Decorative Art is divided into 13 sections: goldsmithery – objects made from gold or silver, gold-plated, silver-plated, or enamel pieces, and jewellery; gem glyptics – gems, cameos and intaglios; metals – artefacts made from tin, brass, bronze, and iron; ceramics – faiences, porcelain, majolicas, glassware including table glassware, rare or valuable pieces, mirrors and stained glass; glass painting; clocks; precision and measuring instruments; furniture and musical instruments; artefacts made from organic materials; academic implements and miscellany.

The most valuable objects are on display in the permanent exhibition in the Gallery of Decorative Art in the Main Building. Valuable heirlooms such as timepieces, jewellery and gem collections are kept in storage.

The collection of gems is one of the most valuable groups of artefacts in the Department. The core of the collection are the 2500 objects from the collection of Konstanty Schmidt-Ciążyński which was given to the Museum in 1886. The collection includes Mesopotamian cylindrical seals, Sassanid gems, scarabs and scaraboids, magical gems, Greek and Roman intaglios and cameos, and numerous modern gems from Italy, Germany, and England, many of them signed.

Due to lack of exhibition space decorative art and material culture pieces from the 20th century are only available for research. These include collections of objects from the Industrial Museum and the Krakow Workshops.

Artefacts from the interwar period – mainly ceramic, but also including furniture and glassware.