Karl Erik: Difference between revisions

<font size="4">'''Karl Erik Ottendahl''' (1942 - 2004)</font>

[[Image:Otten_40.jpg|thumb|right]][[Image:KE_06.jpg|thumb|right]][[Image:KE_01.jpg|thumb|right|Ekstravagant]]

During all periods he had made some of his own handmade pipes, but he felt that the responsibility of managing the factory did not give him the freedom he wished he had. Accordingly, in 1990, he went back to work on his own. He believed that he could produce better work if he worked alone, though his principle reason was simply that he missed the quiet, pleasant atmosphere that a one man shop afforded him. According to him, he has been much happier since he returned to make pipes all by himself. Certainly, the results reflect his rediscovered happiness with the pipe making craft.

 

Though Karl Erik's favorite briar mostly came from Morocco or Greece, but he frequently purchased elsewhere, too. He didn't consider the briar origin to be particularly important provided the briar was well cured. Therefore, he simply purchased the best briar he could find, rather than purchasing from only one or two regions.

Concentrating on more classical influenced shapes Karl Erik's style emphasized the wood over all other contributing factors by allowing the grain to determine the ultimate shape of the piece. He further emphasized the natural, organic, flowing shape of his bowls with hand cut stems and a variety of different bands. These superb pieces of remarkable quality were, almost certainly, the least expensive high-quality hand made pipes coming from Denmark today.

Around 1998/99 he traded the German rights to his brand name "Karl Erik" to Planta, better known as the proprietor of [[Design Berlin]] (db). Thus - though db copied the style of the old Karl Eriks pretty closely - a recent KE offered for sale in Germany is unfortunately about as Danish as Eisbein mit Sauerkraut. But eventhough Planta did one thing of merit: a series of pipe tobaccos was named for Karl Erik!

'''Ottendahl?''' While everywhere else a Karl Erik pipe remained a Karl Erik pipe made by Karl Erik himself, he began signing some of his pipes with his family name "Ottendahl". The new label was strictly used to continue distributing his own pipes in Germany only! But as his Viking ancestors some Ottendahl pipes discovered a way to cross the pond and turned up in the United States. KE officially resumed sales to the USA after 13 years in 2000! This caused a certain confusion among US pipesmokers and some clever US pipetraders imputed the Ottendahls with a better quality than the usual Karl Erik pipes to take advantage of the favourable situation asking considerable higher prices for Ottendahl pipes.

During the following years KE produced a little more than 2000 pipes per year, selling the bulk of them in Germany and the US. That is surely a respectable output, considering the largely hand-made character of these pipes. Karl Erik Ottendahl was planning to make 2500 pipes in 2004 but he died surprisingly suffering a stroke in his home in Korsør on Zealand on the 12th of September 2004.