help us ID this flea market chair  

Most likely "Danish-inspired" production.
Why would anyone spray a toned lacquer over cherry (assuming it is cherry)? A possible answer might be that it was (and still is) common with high-volume producers, to try to even out the varied coloration of "off-the-stack" solid wood components. With higher-end and custom pieces, individual components are matched for grain and color during manufacture, which requires more time and training, of course.
Not a bad looking chair, though. Good piece for earning chops!

the joints look very nicely hand shaped, and the spray paint is definitely not original. i cleaned up one of the armrests and wiped it with a damp cloth to get an idea of what it might have looked like.

If you can nail down the specie as cherry, that would make the chair almost certainly of North American origin, though the delicate construction does feel more Euro than would be typical.

That looks like walnut to me, maybe. How about a sharp well-lit close up?

I was going to say the same thing. Looks like walnut to me

And while you at it, how about a shot of how the underside. It would be a rare piece that does not show its origin in such a photo.

Yeah, Leif. Those low stretchers are an unusual and distinctive feature. Possible later addition?

thanks for the interest and the help. i've attached a closeup of the armrest for some help ID-ing the wood species. cherry was a guess, but we're certainly not sure about that. bear in mind that there's some residual black paint sitting below the wood grain in this photo, as all i used was a light sanding to clean up the armrest. i'll have to use a stripper eventually to get it all off. i've also attached a photo of the underside of the seat.

Not cherry. My first impression was maybe Italian, but...

I was actually hoping for an imagine of the underside with the seat in place.
And the wood is walnut.
Usually walnut is an indication that a piece is American. However, I think this chair might be an exception. I think it might be Scandinavian, but later. And made for a price conscious market.
I've seen a set of Svegards ladder back chairs (Swedish) done in walnut. These are not a Svegards, though.

here's a shot i took of the underside before i took the seat off. is this good enough?

According to this seller it is Torbjorn Afdal.

Yep, it is Afdal.
I spotted this whilst searching for something else entirely. This is often the case when trying to ID furniture.
http://www.matslinder.no/2016/01/10/torbjorn-afdal-for-dansk-mobelprodus...

thanks so much! if anyone's interested, i'll post pictures when i'm done with the restoration. it might be a while, though, as i need to find an economical way to deal with the reupholstery.