Thanks for the warm words, folks.
You know I don't buy and tell
, but I'll say that it was between $400 and $800. Not quite as good as I'd hoped, but not bad.
I don't know if you could say I got a bargain, but the chair needs virtually no work. A dealer friend who was also there said if I wanted to tear it down to the frame, tighten everything, and re upholster in silk it could be a $2500 chair. But I like the needlepoint and the work that went into it, so I'll leave that to the next generation.
I do not think that the auctioneer knew much about fine Victorian furniture. However, he did know how to advertise broadly for weeks previously, and there were a handful of people who were after my chair and it's mate, which was not in the same great condition and which I left for someone else.
I've attributed a desk of mine to Jelliff, so I just wanted the one chair to go with it. My desk attribution is not as strong as I'd like, but even if it's not Jelliff they look great together!