Artifacts of material and spiritual culture that reflect the history of Kazakhstan from ancient times to the present day and has about 300,000 units of storage form funds of the CSM RK.
Orenburg Museum collection became the formation basis ofthe first collection of the Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 1831 creation of museum in the city of Orenburg can be considered as the formation of fund and exposition collections of leading museums of Kazakhstan. In 1831 the first museum in the city of Orenburg was founded by the military governor of Orenburg, adjutant-general, Count Pavel Petrovich Sukhtelen.
In 1921, in connection with the national delimitation of republics of the Soviet Russia, funds of Orenburg local history Museum were divided into two parts – the collection relating to the nature and history of Kazakhstan were transferred to the Kazakh ASSR. According to the historical and cultural divisions: a) archaeology622; b) on numismatics 853 silver, copper coins and paper money; 45 medals; 14 counter; 18 credit cards; c) on weapon 18 guns, 14 rifles, 12 pistols, four arrows, 32 swords, 8 armours, 3 helmets; d) on the ethnography 18 samples of national clothing, 62 hats and jewelry, 97 samples of utensils, 63 Chinese and Japanese furniture, g) on public life 65 porcelain, 16 engravings, 9 paintings, 62 old papers.
On nature: a) on the geology and mineralogy 2000, b) paleontology 140, c) zoology 502, 63 mammals, 20 reptiles.
At the same time to the Central Regional Museum a library was transferred with 7356 books.
In September 1929, after moving of the capital to Alma-Ata in the collection of the Central Museum of Kazakhstan were also included funds of Zhetysu (Semirechye) Regional Museum, which, was founded in 1898 at the regional Semirechye Statistics Committee.
Owing to this association the Central Museum of Kazakhstan became the owner of rich collection, which includes unique examples of items of economy and life, clothes, hats and many other ethnographic materialsof peoples of Russia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia dating 19th – first half of the 20th Century.
From the middle of the 19th century manuscripts and rare editions by regional specialists, scientific researchers, museum staff was collected. For example, in 1921 the executive committee of the Orenburg province handed over a fair amount of material in Kazakhstan’s Commissariat of people’s Education. On the basis of this fund the current collection of manuscripts and rare books was formed. Since 1933 the museum funds by scientific archaeological and ethnographic expeditions are replenished. Most of these arrivals associated with the activities of scientists archaeologists, ethnographers and historians: A.Baitursynov, N.Khludov, A. Margulan, M.Auezov, A.Zhirenchin, K.Akishev, Kh.Argynbaev, M.Mukanov, W. Dzhanibekov, N.Alimbay, Z. S.Samashev, Zh.K.Kurmankulov, A.N.Podushkin and many others.
In 1957-58, a significant part of the collection of Kazakh applied art, including carpet-felt products, leather, wood, bone, as well as jewelry made of silver entered the collection of the museum, when the country is prepared a decade of Kazakh literature and art in Moscow. During this period a number of expeditions were organized and meetings with folk craftsmen, many of whom participated in the decade, and their work later joined the museum collection.
Later collection of the museum fund was formed by collecting artifacts in enterprises and institutions, banks, visits to the expeditions, donation of private citizens, local historians, procurement and random finds. In recent years, funds were replenished by items related to the history of independent Kazakhstan –state symbols, monetary signs, decorations and medals, stamps, pieces of modern life, the materials for the development of space exploration, sports, war heroes memorial complex and labor, products of arts and crafts and contemporary art work.
All fund of the CSM RK consists of the following collections:
- Collection of natural history of Kazakhstan
- Anthropological collection
- Archaeological Collection
- Ethnographic collection
- Photodocumentary materials
- Collection of rare books and manuscripts
- Numismatic Collection
- Collection of porcelain and ceramics
- Art collection
- Other specific collections