It's a "fancy chair"...likely 1850 or before...
It was a chair...for dining or sitting in a room.... at a desk if needed....but in that era desks and chairs didn't necessarily match.
Very VERY nice chair.
Linda C

Wow! Linda -- I am surprised -- would you believe I paid less than $50 for it? I am very very pleased! Thanks! You are such a font of knowledge about antiques!

Now...if you had a set of 6....
Can you imagine how many of those chairs were stripped to get rid of all that ugly gaudy gold!...

Yes, I can imagine. Had a "how to" book from the 50's and it told how to take the top off a roll top to make a smooth desk! What we do to furniture in the name of fashion. I think of all the painting that's been done to really good quality furniture and I shudder!

I'd like a set of six but . . . the label said Victorian and that is what I thought which is why I thought perhaps a desk or dressing table matched. I truly had no idea it was such a special little chair!

Again -- thank you!

Did they really have premade woven cane in 1850 or before?
It's held in with spline, not hand-woven.
My guess was a 1920's revival piece.
Casey

It's a hand woven seat......have you ever caned a seat? You finish with a flat piece of cane and the completed piece looks very much like a seat set with spline.....or rather as eat set with spline looks like a hand woven seat.
Nope....that chair is the real thing!!

Here is a link that might be useful: The finishing of a caned seat.

It looks hand woven to me - notice the slight indentations on the spline where it (the spline) is attached by weaving a strand of cane through each hole (& over the spline) as the finishing step. At least I think that's the last step - it's been a very long time since I've caned a chair but mostly I remember the backache, LOL! The spline that's put on prewoven fits in a groove & I believe is held in with only pressure & perhaps glue so nothing shows but a clean line.

I do see the indentations and stand corrected.
Casey