Workshop · the cabinet's people
New Pelikan Workshop
Czech fine-wood puzzle workshop led by Jakub Dvořák
New Pelikan Workshop (trading as Pelikan Puzzles) is a Czech fine-woodworking shop that produces handmade interlocking and packing puzzles. The original Pelikan operation was run by Josef Pelikan, whose puzzles were long distributed through Bernhard Schweitzer's Puzzlewood. After Josef Pelikan died, two of his original employees — Jakub Dvořák and Jaroslav Švejkovský — took over the business and re-established it as the New Pelikan Workshop, relaunching with a new website in 2015.
Based in Tábor, Czech Republic, the workshop crafts puzzles from exotic and European hardwoods — among them cherry, padauk, wenge, American walnut, oak and mahogany — and is widely regarded as producing some of the finest puzzle woodwork in the world. Rather than design in-house alone, Pelikan manufactures designs by many of the leading mechanical-puzzle inventors and releases them in batches.
As a workshop, Pelikan's identity rests on precision and finish: puzzle names are deeply machine-engraved into the wood, joints are cut to extremely tight tolerances, and each piece is finished to a high standard, which has earned the shop a strong reputation among collectors.
Style signature
Exhibition-grade interlocking and packing puzzles in richly contrasting exotic hardwoods, defined by near-perfect fit and finish. The workshop realises other designers' creations rather than imposing a single house design idiom.
Notable works
- Doors and Drawers (collaboration with designer Mike Toulouzas)
- Limited and special editions designed by Stéphane Chomine
- Interlocking and coordinate-motion puzzles produced in collaboration with designers worldwide
Questions about New Pelikan Workshop
What is the New Pelikan Workshop?
It is a Czech fine-wood puzzle workshop, based in Tábor, that makes handmade interlocking and packing puzzles from exotic and European hardwoods. It was rebuilt by former employees Jakub Dvořák and Jaroslav Švejkovský after the death of founder Josef Pelikan, and is considered one of the best puzzle woodworking shops in the world.
Who runs Pelikan Puzzles?
The workshop is run by Jakub Dvořák together with Jaroslav Švejkovský, both of whom worked for the original Pelikan before taking it over and continuing it as the New Pelikan Workshop.
What kind of puzzles does Pelikan make?
Pelikan manufactures high-end wooden mechanical puzzles — chiefly interlocking, burr and packing puzzles — produced from designs by leading puzzle inventors such as Stéphane Chomine and Mike Toulouzas, using woods like cherry, padauk, wenge and walnut.