Purchased in 2011 by the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions, and support from the Grampian Decorative and Fine Arts Society and the Embroiderer's Guild North, Aberdeen.

The Applied Art collection comprises over 15,000 items, covering all aspects of applied and decorative art, design and craft and costume and textiles. The collection is particularly strong in the areas of ceramics, costume, glass, jewellery, metalwork and textiles, with a particular emphasis on Scottish work. An active policy of collecting contemporary British Craft has resulted in one of the most important collections of this type in Scotland.