Who knew that tea parties could be so hip? Not long after I discovered that a young, smart, savvy, in-the-know acquaintance of mine was passing her post-college summers devising and staging appealingly unusual tea parties, I’ve come across Holly Palmer’s Tea Cup Stool. This colorful rotationally-moulded plastic chair has an unmistakable aesthetic and a signature joie de vivre, reminding me of a pair of recent whimsical, referential, and intriguing pieces: Hammish Tennent’s Rocker Stool and Thorsten Franck’s Out of Balance.

Tea Cup Stool. Designed by Holly Palmer.

Go Down the Rabbit Hole with the Teacup Stool

In Contrast to Rocker and Out of Balance, however, Tea Cup doesn’t engage in any gyrational pyrotechnics. The piece is one solid perch, to be sure, so its flights of fancy are not manifest as literal movement, but rather as an imaginative indulgence involving a classic of children’s literature.

As Palmer says, “Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, presented a Surrealist/Fantasy theme with a childlike, youthful aesthetic… giving a set of furniture that one could imagine a shrunken Alice might use.”

Whatever your size or choice of afternoon beverage, you’re sure to be captivated by Tea Cup’s durability and versatility (suitable for indoor or outdoor use), its humorous referentiality, its outright expression of fantasy and fun. And given its reasonable price structure (from £140 UK), you might just be tempted to acquire a smart dozen.

The Tea Cup Stool is available in 10 standard colors, though more elaborate options like the Rose pattern pictured are forthcoming soon. Palmer also offers sets of the Tea Cup Stool for occasions and events—as the uniquely Bristish parlance has it, “available to hire.”

About the Designer: The U.K.’s Holly Palmer is one designer who knows how to toe the line between functionality and high style. Her portfolio is rife with examples of products that illustrate this synthesis between pragmatism and panache—“contemporary pieces in a range of modern materials, using bold colors and original ideas to create fresh and contemporary products.” In addition to the Tea Cup Stool, have a look at her Maths Tables and Book Porcupine to see whereof I speak.