Storytelling Throne with Carved Hands — Hand-Carved Oak

The storytelling throne with the hands. Its arms end in two big carved wooden hands, fingers curled over the front as if the chair is holding on to its storyteller, and its tall back rises into a pointed centre panel between two spires, each wrapped in carved rope.

It’s the chair children pick. When the parent council of a primary school in East Lothian couldn’t decide which storytelling chair to order, they let the pupils vote — and the children chose “the one with the hands”. Theirs went to the school orchard, varnished, with a pair of our red mushroom stools for the younger ones.

Beyond the hands and spires we keep it simple: no paint, just the weight and warmth of solid British oak, so the grain does the rest. It’s equally at home in an outdoor classroom, a library corner, a reading garden or on a stage, and the solid hand-built joinery means it will outlast the stories told from it by decades.

Dimensions

• Total height: 170 cm
• Total width: 70 cm
• Inside seat width (back): 42 cm
• Inside seat width (front): 50 cm
• Seat height: 46 cm

Key Features

• Carved wooden hands — each armrest ends in a hand-carved oak hand, the detail children remember
• Tall throne back — pointed centre panel between two spires with carved rope bands
• 100% sustainably sourced solid British oak — built for decades of indoor and outdoor use
• Choose your finish — supplied unvarnished as standard, or add three coats of Epifanes yacht varnish for lasting colour and sheen (+£50)
• Adult proportions — 46 cm seat height, generous seat width, designed for teachers and storytellers
• Handmade in Mid Wales — each throne individually carved in our workshop

Your Version

The plain oak panels are ideal for personalisation — a name carved into the seat rail, a school badge in the backrest, a motto, a date, or a phrase that belongs to the children who will use it. Pair it with our red mushroom stools for a story circle. Tell us what the chair should say about your school, and we will design from there.

Typical lead time is 6–8 weeks. Prices include VAT. Schools can order by purchase order or cheque and pay on invoice. If your school or trust needs to register us as a supplier, we will provide all details: VAT number, bank details, address and anything else required.

Explore the full storytelling chairs collection, see the Rustic Oak Throne for a rawer natural design, or design your own chair from scratch.

Finish

This piece is supplied unvarnished as standard. Left natural, solid oak slowly weathers to a soft, silvery-grey — completely normal for outdoor timber, a graceful way for a piece to age, and with no maintenance needed. If you’d prefer to bring out the grain and warm, honeyed tones, choose the varnished option (+£50) and we’ll hand-apply three coats of Epifanes, a premium marine yacht varnish.