Bertil Vallien (Swedish, b.1938) is a designer and sculptor best known for his sandcast glassworks. Born in the town of Sollentuna, north of Stockholm, Vallien studied ceramics at the University of Art and Design in Stockholm (Konstfack), and later attended the School for Advanced Industrial Design. He then returned to Konstfack, and dedicated himself fully to ceramics. Soon after leaving Konstfack, Vallien joined the Los Angeles-based company HAL Fromholt Ceramics, before returning to Sweden to work for Kosta Boda glassworks at Åfors.

By the 1970s, Vallien had switched entirely to glass, becoming well known for his sculpted boat forms and enigmatic faces. He was also a leading figure in the development of the unique sandcasting technique, in which hot molten glass is poured directly in a preformed mold made out of sand.

Vallien has exhibited around the world, and his work is in numerous public collections, including the Heritage Museum in St. Petersburg, the National Museum in Stockholm, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Modern Art in Japan, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Powerhouse Museum in Australia, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He has also received a number of prestigious awards, such as Prince Eugen’s medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Vaxjö, the Gold Medal from the Royal Academy of Science in Stockholm, the Visionary Award from the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, and the Libenski Award in Seattle.