The Keatley Trust, founded in 1968 by collector John Keatley, aims to purchase the finest ceramics, glass, metalwork, woodwork, furniture, prints and book bindings created over the last hundred years. These objects are subsequently lent to museums around England, for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. Comprising almost 1,500 pieces, the collection reveals the history of twentieth-century Britain, through art. In John Keatley’s opinion, this century represents the period of greatest transformation of the lives of most people in the history of Britain, with the greatest advances in living conditions, education, health, life expectancy and prospects of the ‘ordinary man’. The result of numerous interviews with John Keatley (a long-standing Patron of the Decorative Arts Society), this article reveals the motivations and thinking of this most generous of collectors. It illustrates the breadth of the Keatley Trust collection, highlighting pieces currently on loan to The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and details a particularly strong group of objects that were displayed at key exhibitions during the mid-1930s. Finally, it examines the significant impact of John Keatley’s active engagement with contemporary craftspeople, resulting in numerous commissions that allow makers to work to their fullest capacity, with maximum imagination.