The museum is located in the potters' quarter, in the former abbey of Notre-Dame. Following renovations and expansion, specially suited areas hold the ceramics and glassware and the varied collections.

The museum was set up in 1954 by V. Gautron du Coudray based on his own collections, and over the years has been added to with sculptures by Alfredo Pina, an assistant to Rodin, decorative objects from the period 1880-1930, the tools of a file cutter, of whom there were many in the canton in the 19^th century, and above all archeological items from the great Cluny priory of La Charité (11^th-16^thcenturies).