Karl Schöberl

German Karl Schöberl is a maker in the purist sense – for him, woodturning is no mere profession, but his birthright. An inclination for handicraft came as little surprise; his ancestors were wood-turners as far back as the 1500s. But with his father’s foray into rope-making, the legacy was interrupted. Karl tried to learn the ropes, but this trade couldn’t hold him, and fate stepped in. An appearance from his grandfather in a dream set in motion dedicated training and practice in hand-turning wood, resulting in fastidiously formed objects that let the wood's personality speak for itself. In the post-war landscape of scarcity, his grandfather would forage for dry ash wood from the propellers of fallen planes. It’s this same ingenuity that makes Karl Schöberl’s 21st-century wooden works true pieces to pine for.