I'm no expert but looking at arms of chair & back looks like it would have been expensive but then you see the kind of messy seat area & wonder what went on, I wonder it if had springs under the padded seat where the boards now are. I don't think they are original. Might look at ebay & see if they have any with carving or the boxy look of this 1. I had a chair at 1 time with springs that were kind of squarish & above them was horsehair "mat"(highly allergic to) & above that a leather or fabric seat with kind of strawlike stuff. I think it is my chair that has a carved rose on the back. It is just like regular dining chair but walnut & rose was carved at top of back. It would look good in dining room at a wood table, this chair is more of an easy chair in a parlor where you would sit & talk for a long time & would need a very large comfortable chair. I think my uncle had a couple in his parlor along with large floral rug on the floor & strange musical instruments, harpschord & zither??? This chair could have been more of men's chair & then would have been leather seat, if woman's it would be a floral or maybe needlepoint heavily padded seat. At my uncle's I think the arms were wider at end(where you put your hands) put don't remember any carving, backs were about as wide as your's. He lived to be nearly 100 as I had 4 uncles & 1 aunt that all lived to 100-105, 109(aunt)I think this 1 was 96 or 98 when he died.They had a pump in the kitchen & heated water on the stove as late as 1983 so their house was like going into another time, all 4 kids graduated from college so don't know why they never "went modern" Not much help but hope it's a start!

I think you're right that it used to have a padded set b/c the space between the boards and where there should be something to sit on is pretty deep. I also think you're right about it being a man's chair or parlor chair or something b/c it's a huge chair. Not tall but definitely very wide!

I think those are dolphins or something on the back of it.

I have a similar chair in similar state (but mine doesn't have the heraldic dolphin and lion, which those certainly are). I suspect they are 1920's revival of tudor chairs. Is your finish really crunchy? Mine is.

I can't really see enough of the chair to figure it out...
I wish there was a good picture of the whole chair.
From what I see, it looks like it had a box seat....with tied springs which fit into the whole seat and rested on that one board that is original.
But I can't figure out the back nor the sides? Was there something that fit into the back to lean against?
What are the legs like?
It looks seriously "clobbered" to me......and I can't see how you could make it useful again without a lot of work and perhaps $$.
But, hey, if you pulled that back piece with the dolphins off and hung it over a door, its' worth your dollar!
Linda C

It's difficult to tell by the lighting in the first photograph, but it appears there may be a depression or bevel in the wood of the back where a padded and upholstered panel fit as a backrest. Likely to match the upholstery in the seat.