Chair-maker Chair-maker Since the mid-17th century a chair-maker, or chairbler, is a craftsman in the furniture trades specializing in chairs. Before that time seats were made by joiners, turners, and coffermakers, and woven seats were made by basketmakers. In 18th-century London, chair-makers might work on their own account, or within the workshop of upholders, as members of the upholstery trade were called. In 1803 Thomas Sheraton observed a division of labour that was of long standing in London and county towns: "Chair-making is a branch generally confined to itself, as those who professedly work at it, seldom engage to make cabinet
Jonathan Gostelowe 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