Artist

Florence Koehler

born Jackson, MI 1861-died Rome, Italy 1944
Also known as
  • Florence Cary Koehler
  • Florence Cary
Born
Jackson, Michigan, United States
Died
Rome, Italy
Active in
  • London, England
Nationalities
  • American
Biography

Florence Koehler was an interior decorator and furniture advisor in addition to making jewelry. She never spoke of her background, even to friends, who suspected she had a “rather humble origin and grim early environment.” She traveled throughout Europe and had many creative friends, including American writer Henry James, who dubbed her “The Conversationalist.” She began as a potter and started making jewelry after moving to London. Koehler lived in Rome during World War II and died just before American troops retook the city, leaving all of her possessions to her friend Mary Elizabeth Sharpe of Rhode Island. (Laurie Eglington Kaldis, ed., Portrait of an Artist, 1947)