Founded in 1845 by Tiburce Morisot,[1] prefect of the Haute-Vienne and father of the painter Berthe Morisot, the first Limoges museum was initially housed in the prefecture's premises on Place du Présidial, and its purpose was to build up a collection: paintings, sculptures and objets d'art were collected by members of the Société archéologique et historique du Limousin.

Adrien Dubouché, the son of a cloth merchant, took on the voluntary management of the institution in 1865 and began a series of donations to add to the collections; bequests were received from French and foreign ceramics manufacturers.

The city of Limoges made available a disused hospice for the insane on the Place du Champ-de-Foire: the building was converted to display the collections and house the School of Decorative Arts, founded on the initiative of Adrien Dubouché.

[2] In 1875, on the death of his friend Albert Jacquemart, author of the book Les Merveilles de la céramique, Adrien Dubouché acquired his ceramic collection, comprising 587 pieces, which he donated to the city of Limoges.

In 2003, the Ministry of Culture and Communication launched an international competition to renovate the museum, which was won by Viennese architect Boris Podrecca and museographer Zette Cazalas.