Located in the stunning Villa Floridiana’s park, the museum has been home to one of the major Italian collections of decorative arts since 1931. It includes over 6000 pieces, mostly ceramics, dating from the 12th to the 19th century. The collection which gives the museum its name, was established in the second half of the 19th century by Placido de Sangro, Duke of Martina, and donated in 1911 to the city of Naples by his heirs.
The museum is spread over three floors; on the ground floor visitors can appreciate artefacts made of ivory, glaze, tortoiseshell, coral and bronze dating back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and Renaissance and Baroque majolica, glass and crystals; on the first floor you can admire the finest European porcelain of the 18th century. Finally, in the basement, one of the most precious oriental artefacts’ collections in Italy, among which Chinese porcelain from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and Japanese Kakiemon and Imari collections.