I was commissioned to fix the broken seat rung and put a new seat on this chair.
I have a special place in my heart for ladder back chairs,they have a timeless style and comfort when made properly. I feel the same way about bikes and other toys around here, I didn't think to much about this chair, I've learned not to get my hopes up for antiques, usually their a reproduction of some type that's easy to tell when you start working on them.
This is different, I am pretty sure this chair was made in the mid to late 1800's by the Woody family, well known chair makers in North Carolina's northern Appalachia. It's hickory with a couple red oak rungs thrown in, very prevalent woods of that area,the turning of the front posts look like Woody's style , it was made with out a middle rung in the back and the patina is dead on for other chairs they made circa 1890, the really neat thing is no glue was used and the rung mortises are drilled to overlap an 1/8 or so, these are tell tale signs that this chair was made by someone who really knows their stuff.Traditionally ladderback chairs were made like this, back when nails were expensive and screws were practically non existent, some genius either stumbled on or figured out that when a post is at about 18% moisture content and the rung is bone dry and mortise and tenon are made within 100th of an inch the the wetter wood will shrink around the rung and lock together, no glue needed,the overlapping of the rungs is just a bit of a safeguard so way down the road when things get loose the joint will still hold, the rung wont be able to come out.

It might look sloppy but it's precise, this chair was made with a mortising machine that was made in the 1800's hooked to a water wheel, I make my ladderbacks the same way only I drill mortise's by eye with a brace and bit, I use some sighting lines and go for it, just like the poor people did.
It was pretty loose but I still had to really beat on it to get it apart,I made a new rung out of red oak, dried it real good and glued it all back together.
I only tried to get the side panels apart, the front and back were still tight. Chairs see much more racking stress fore and aft.
I went over it with some steel wool and past wax then wove a Hickory bark seat on it.

Very comfy, an excellent desk chair, dinner or after a ride with a beer chair!