Maria Berntsen studied at the Academy of Art in Copenhagen and L'Ecole d'Architecture de Bordeaux and finished her studies in 1992. She opened her own studio in 1992. Maria Berntsen started her cooperation with Georg Jensen in 2000 and her collections for Georg Jensen include the Quack thermos, an eponymous line of cutlery, the jewellery series Mirror, and the Christmas Classics Advent and Season candlesticks.
It is important to Maria Berntsen that her designs have a lasting value and express both an era and life itself. About her work Maria Berntsen says, "A good design should be simple and functional. It must be harmonious and well conceived."