This is a 'commode' chair, or what many dealers call a potty chair.  More often than not, in days past, people would slice off the front panel below the seat rail which would hidden the pot from view. Thus they would have converted it into a simple armchair.  This provincial chair has well formed out scrolling arms whose scrolled ends are beautifully formed and so very tactile, which is its great appeal.

Circa 1760-1770