This collection provides access to notable decorative arts objects and resources to support research in the decorative arts, material culture, and design studies.

The objects represented in the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture document a wide variety of forms and traditions from the United States, Great Britain, and Europe. Objects in the collection range from British slipware and delftware from the 15th-17th centuries to ceramic works created by Moravian potters in North Carolina in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; from folk arts brought to America by immigrants from Norway to furniture, pottery, and textiles handmade or manufactured in 19th and early 20th century Wisconsin.

Other resources in the collection include pattern books, manuals, catalogs, periodicals, and other volumes published between the 1670s and the 1920s on the topics of decorative and applied arts, design, and architecture.