1.

Visual Studies 03

As part of our Visual Studies series, we explore artists whose practices honor the handmade — those who carved out a life through material, shape, and care. We begin with Valentine Schlegel, an artist who quietly reshaped her surroundings with refinement and intent. Schlegel’s world was one where art softened the edges of daily life — where beauty was not separate from use, but embedded within it. A ceramicist, sculptor, designer, and teacher,

her practice was intimate and intuitive.

As part of our Visual Studies series, we explore artists whose practices honor the handmade — those who carved out a life through material, shape, and care. We begin with Valentine Schlegel, an artist who quietly reshaped her surroundings with refinement and intent. Schlegel’s world was one where art softened the edges of daily life — where beauty was not separate from use, but embedded within it. A ceramicist, sculptor, designer, and teacher,

her practice was intimate and intuitive.

As part of our Visual Studies series, we explore artists whose practices honor the handmade — those who carved out a life through material, shape, and care. We begin with Valentine Schlegel, an artist who quietly reshaped her surroundings with refinement and intent. Schlegel’s world was one where art softened the edges of daily life — where beauty was not separate from use, but embedded within it. A ceramicist, sculptor, designer, and teacher, her practice was intimate and intuitive.

  1. ABOVE: Valentine Schlegel (1925-2021)

  1. ABOVE: Valentine Schlegel (1925-2021)

In Focus:
Valentine Schlegel

mohair

The mohair blanket is a soft, voluminous blanket with a welcoming tactility, hand-woven using the finest mohair with added wool for greater body and increased longevity. Our Artisans follow centuries-old tradition working the Angora fibres into superlatively soft blankets. Smooth and lustrous in texture, each is breathable and lightweight, crease - resistant and kind to sensitive skin.

As a naturally renewable resource needing no chemical treatment, mohair goes gently on the earth in its production while providing strength and resilience when spun into yarn.

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Working mostly in plaster, clay, and canvas, she is best known for her white stucco fireplaces: sculptural, curving forms that rose like sails from the walls of French homes — each one hand-built, each one entirely singular.

To her, the hearth was not only a functional centre, but a gesture — something tactile, personal, alive.


Schlegel moved easily between mediums. From hand-carved knives to boats, vessels, and vases, she made objects that lived with you — quietly shaping the spaces they occupied. Her touch honoured utility without ever surrendering grace.

A lifelong dialogue with tools, materials, and space, her process was slow and deeply attuned. She worked outside the commercial art world and found freedom in that choice.

Today, her legacy feels more vital than ever — a reminder of what it means to live deliberately, with care for both shape and spirit.

VI. ABOVE Dining room in the home of Valentine Schlegel in Paris,

photographed by Eric Marin for The World of Interiors (October 2012)

VI. ABOVE Dining room in the home of Valentine Schlegel in Paris,

photographed by Eric Marin for The World of Interiors (October 2012)

II.

LEFT A bedroom in the home of Valentine Schlegel, photographed by Eric Marin for The World of Interiors (October 2012)

ABOVE A bedroom in the home of Valentine Schlegel, photographed by Eric Marin for The World of Interiors (October 2012)

III.

BELOW Fireplace by Valentine Schlegel, Magasin AMC, Paris, 1965

IV.

ABOVE Valentine Schlegel, Fireplace with a bench, 1964

V.

RIGHT Valentine Schlegel c. 1955

RIGHT Valentine Schlegel sculptures
c. 1955

VI. ABOVE Dining room in the home

of Valentine Schlegel in Paris,

photographed by Eric Marin for

The World of Interiors (October 2012)

mohair

The mohair blanket is a soft, voluminous blanket with a welcoming tactility, hand-woven using the finest mohair with added wool for greater body and increased longevity. Our Artisans follow centuries-old tradition working the Angora fibres into superlatively soft blankets. Smooth and lustrous in texture, each is breathable and lightweight, crease - resistant and kind to sensitive skin.

As a naturally renewable resource needing no chemical treatment, mohair goes gently on the earth in its production while providing strength and resilience when spun into yarn.

newsletter

mohair

The mohair blanket is a soft, voluminous blanket with a welcoming tactility, hand-woven using the finest mohair with added wool for greater body and increased longevity. Our Artisans follow centuries-old tradition working the Angora fibres into superlatively soft blankets. Smooth and lustrous in texture, each is breathable and lightweight, crease - resistant and kind to sensitive skin.

As a naturally renewable resource needing no chemical treatment, mohair goes gently on the earth in its production while providing strength and resilience when spun into yarn.

newsletter

VI. ABOVE Dining room in the home of Valentine Schlegel in Paris,

photographed by Eric Marin for The World of Interiors (October 2012)