Drawing on the theoretical precepts of England's Arts and Crafts movement and the intellectual postulates of Gottfried Semper, the museum was devised with the aim of creating a collection of models for master craftsmen and artist to reinvigorate the production of everyday use items.

The current permanent display, open in 1995 according to the ideas of the former director Vladimir Maleković, and the spatial articulation of architect Marijan Hržić, includes chosen objects from all museum collections.

The first objects for the future museum were bought in 1875 by Izidor Kršnjavi with a donation of bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer at an inheritance auction of Catalan painter and collector Mariano Fortuny in Paris.

Today this department curates about 100,000 objects that comprise the following collections: architecture, ceramics, clocks and watches, devotionalia, glass, graphic design, ivory, furniture, metal, musical instruments, painted leather, paintings, photographs and photographic equipment, photography up to 1950, printing and book binding, prints, product design, sculptures, textiles and fashion accessories, varia, and Anka Gvozdanović's collection (at 8 Visoka Street).

Since 1880, the library has developed and been transformed in accordance with the founding mission of the museum and the understanding of its role in the framework of currently valid conceptions of museology.