Daniel Cottier was born in Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland in January 1837. He apprenticed to a John Cairney & Co glass-stainers in Glasgow and studied under Madox Brown in London in early 1860s. In 1862, he went to work for Field & Allen in Leith as foreman designer, three years later (1865) he opened his own business in Glasgow. Some of his early glass and early experiments in decoration, are in Paisley and in Aberdeen particularly in St Machar's Cathedral.

During 1869 he moved to London, opening "Cottier and Co., Art Furniture Makers, Glass and Tile Painters", supplying aesthetic furnishings in the most fashionable styles. In 1873, he opened his New York house and also opened a branch in Australia. He was considered to be an important influence on Louis Comfort Tiffany and also is credited with introducing the Aesthetic movement to America and Australia. He died of a heart attack at Jacksonville, Florida and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.

His work was said to be influenced by the writing of John Ruskin, the paintings of the Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the work of William Morris. He painted allegorical figures in the Pre-Raphaelite style compared to Rossetti and Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

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