Permanent collections
Our heritage
The American Museum houses over 12,000 objects which showcase outstanding examples of American decorative arts, along with quilts and American folk art, which are recognised as some of the most significant in Europe and the equal of many premier collections in the United States. The Museum is also home to Dallas Pratt’s map collection, one of the great collections of Renaissance maps in the world.
“America is not like a blanket – one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt – many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.”
Portals into the past
Many of the rooms in the museum are original room sets from American history, showcasing decorative arts and intriguing stories
Quilts & textiles
The American Museum’s collection of over 250 quilts is acclaimed as the finest of its type in Europe and the equal of many premier collections in the United States
The Shaker collection
Objects and furniture in our Shaker gallery have such clean, modern lines that it’s hard to believe they weren’t designed yesterday
The Native American collection
Items made by Indigenous North Americans form one of the most popular collections in the museum, which includes beautiful historic and contemporary pieces
Folk art
Portraits, landscapes, carved figures, and textiles made by craftspeople and jobbing painters in one of our most diverse collections of art
The Dallas Pratt map collection
One of the great Renaissance map collections in the world has a new curation in our current exhibition – Myths and Memories: Renaissance Maps
About our displays
The founders of the American Museum, Dr. Dallas Pratt and John Judkyn, went on a whirlwind collecting spree in the late 1950s and gathered much of what is now on display.
Today the collections are accessible to visitors through displays in the museum’s permanent galleries, during temporary exhibitions, and on loan to other institutions around the world. We also acquire new objects to the collections to represent both current day and historical periods.
Through these objects we tell stories that span 2000 years of American history. We acknowledge that there are many stories yet to be told and diverse voices yet to be heard. We are in the process of, and will continue to, make necessary updates to our displays and galleries to ensure a broader narrative. Find out more about the work we are doing to address this.
Donate an object
We follow an important process to add objects to our collection
Equity, diversity & inclusion
The American Museum & Gardens has a responsibility and an opportunity to celebrate and represent our diversity
Restitution and repatriation policy
For any enquiries, please read the policy linked here