Jonathan Gostelowe

Jonathan Gostelowe (1744 or 1745, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 1795, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an 18th-century American cabinetmaker, best remembered for his Philadelphia Chippendale-style furniture.

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, and was buried in Christ Church Burial Ground.

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. Design of these flags is attributed to John Henderson. One "Gostelowe List" standard survives in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Painter (and fellow veteran) Charles Willson Peale organized the Grand Federal Procession, an elaborate parade on July 4, 1788 celebrating ratification of the United States Constitution by ten of the former Thirteen Colonies (surpassing the required three-quarters majority). Gostelowe helped to recruit its 5,000 participants, and rode on the float sponsored by his guild, "The Gentlemen Cabinet and Chair Makers of Philadelphia."

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