Ho Phra Keo houses an important collection of Buddhist artefacts, both within the sim and on the terrace. This collection was originally assembled in 1917 by Prince Phetsarath and Vientiane Governor Khamphai Souvannavong, and after the restoration of Ho Phra Keo in the 1940s it was Prince Phetsarath's wish that the temple should become a museum of religious art. During the Japanese occupation of 1945 the collection was moved for safe keeping to the Musée Louis Finot in Hà Nội, but it returned to Ho Phra Keo in the mid 1950s. Unfortunately, in the absence of funds or expertise to develop the collection, the wat remained a locked store-room until 1968 when, on the request of the Lao government, Madeleine Giteau of the Ecole Française d'extrême-orient came to Vientiane to reorganise the collection and improve its display, finally allowing the museum to open its doors later that year. Ho Phra Keo was designated as a National Museum in 1975. Artefacts on view include Buddha images of various shapes and sizes in bronze, silver and stone, including a Dvaravati-style stone Buddha dating from the 6th to the 9th centuries, plus a gilded throne, a wooden copy of the sacred pha bang (the original of which is in Luang Prabang), some Khmer stelae - including one found at nearby Sayfong which records the dedication of a hospital by Khmer King Jayavarman VII - engraved wooden panels, a selection of celadon ceramics (unlabelled) unearthed at the Sisatthanak Kiln Site and a range of other Buddhist decorative items. Signage is minimal, and the few signs in English date from the 1960s.