Jonathan Gostelowe
American cabinetmaker
Jonathan Gostelowe (1744 or 1745, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 1795, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an 18th-century American cabinetmaker, best remembered for his Philadelphia Chippendale-style furniture.
Biography
He was the eldest of the four children of George Gostelow (1701-1758), a Swedish-American farmer, and his English-born wife Lydia, who lived in the Passyunk section of what is now South Philadelphia. There is no documentation of where the son learned his trade, although, based on stylistic similarities, it is conjectured that he apprenticed under cabinetmaker George Claypoole, Sr. For much of his career, Gostelowe operated a shop on Church Alley between Second and Third Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He married Mary Duffield at Christ Church, Philadelphia on June 16, 1768. She died on May 13, 1770, at age 26.
He served in the 4th Artillery Regiment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of major. He was paid for supplying drums to the army, possibly items he made himself. In August 1778, he completed an inventory of all arms and materiel held by the Continental Army in southeastern Pennsylvania. This inventory included illustrations of thirteen standards (regimental flags), which may have represented each of the thirteen Pennsylvania Militia regiments.
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