The museum is based on the collections of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk manufacturers and patrons, the Burylins. Diodor Burylin began collecting ancient books and coins, and his grandson Dmitry Burylin, who later founded the museum, continued this work. By 1885, the Burylins had gathered over one hundred thousand coins, orders, and medals.

Dmitry Burylin began exhibiting his collections in 1887 and 1888 at exhibitions in Moscow organized by the Imperial Russian Historical Museum and the Anthropological Museum of Moscow University. Later, he participated in exhibitions in Chicago, Nizhny Novgorod, and Ivanovo-Voznesensk. In 1912, in honor of the centenary of the Burylin family's industrial and social activities, Dmitry decided to create a museum in his hometown, with construction starting on August 25, 1912.

On December 26, 1914, the Museum of Industry and Art was solemnly opened, although the first visitors began arriving as early as October when the museum's setup was not yet fully completed. Thanks to the founder's efforts, the museum became a place of scientific work, attracting scholars to study the exhibits.

After the events of 1917, the museum was nationalized in 1919 and became a local lore museum, with a significant portion of the collections being removed or not exhibited.

In 1993, the Ivanovo State Association of Historical and Local Lore Museums named after D. G. Burylin was established, and by 2003 a new exhibition concept was developed, allowing for the display of valuable objects from the Burylin collections. The D. G. Burylin Library was also opened.

The museum's collections hold over 780,000 items, including more than 500,000 units of textile products and decorative applied arts. Items made of metal, wood, ceramics, porcelain, glass, bone, and artificial materials are also represented.

The museum also houses collections of documents from the 18th and 20th centuries, philatelic products, numismatics (including an extensive collection of Russian coins from the 16th and 20th centuries), weapons from the 16th and 20th centuries, manuscripts and ancient manuscripts on various media, printed books (including six incunabula), decorative applied art objects made of precious metals, works of painting, graphics, sculpture, copper casting, lacquer miniatures from Palekh and Kholuy, Rostov enamel, film, audio, and photographic materials, archaeological finds, and items of natural history.