The transmission of English styles to America is a recurring theme apparent in the American decorative arts collection, which includes works from the Baroque, Queen Anne, and Chippendale (also known as Rococo) periods. Many examples of the Baroque style exist in the museum's Wallace Nutting Collection. Wallace Nutting (1861-1941), a Harvard-educated Congregational minister turned photographer, writer, antiquarian and connoisseur, amassed an unsurpassed furniture collection and was the principle authority on early American (or Pilgrim-century) furniture for much of the twentieth century. His books, articles and lectures focused on the deep nostalgia he held for the past. After opening a reproduction furniture business in 1917 and experiencing the fall of tourism after World War I, he no longer needed the original objects he had acquired. Through J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr. the collection was eventually given to the Atheneum in 1926. The scope of the Nutting collection includes such pieces as the court cupboard (a luxury item in the seventeenth century), the wainscot chair, the gate-leg table, the joined chest and Connecticut's best known style of regional furniture; the sunflower chest. Through this collection, Hartford is home to the largest and most comprehensive assembly of Pilgrim-century furniture in the United States.

Nowhere are Connecticut regional styles more evident in the museum's collection than in the fine craftsmanship of the state’s cabinetmakers. Eliphalet Chapin, a cabinetmaker synonymous with Connecticut Valley Chippendale furniture, began as an apprentice in the Hartford/Windsor area around 1765. He later moved to Philadelphia and worked as a joiner until he finally settled in East Windsor Hill, CT in 1771. He is best known for his restrained version of Philadelphia Rococo. The Atheneum's collection features several excellent examples of Chapin's work as well as works by his apprentices.

The Atheneum's collection also extends into the twentieth century. In the area of modern design and decorative art, pieces by designers such as Charles and Ray Eames (1907-1978; 1912-1988) and Warren McArthur (1885-1961) demonstrate a transformation of simple, industrial materials into elegant masterpieces.

The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection opens a window into life in Victorian Hartford. The collection includes not only paintings and sculpture but also her husband's, Samuel Colt's, personal collection of firearms, edged weapons and armor from around the world. Specific examples include weapons from Colt’s Patent Firearm Manufacturing Co., in Hartford, such as the Walker Colt and the Paterson Holster Pistol.

In addition, the Atheneum has acquired objects documenting the history of both decorative and utilitarian forms in America. Examples of Chinese export porcelain and English, Dutch and German pottery and porcelain, illustrate the history of the import/export market and the progression of technique and style. Like furniture with its region-specific forms and craftsmanship, American silver follows a similar pattern. Tankards and porringers are two common forms that can be traced back to specific American silversmiths and owners through regional characteristics and monograms.

From a gift in 1844 of seventeenth century walnut armchairs from Daniel Wadsworth to a newly accessioned Paul Revere II tankard given in 2000 by Harold C. Lovell, Jr. and Lulu K. Lovell, in memory of Harold C. Lovell, Sr., the Atheneum has continually enhanced the collection with works that illustrate not only the history of fine art but also the history of everyday life as reflected in the decorative arts of the past three centuries.