Skip to main content
Advanced Search
1981-161, Sampler
Sampler by Ann Pasteur Maupin
1981-161, Sampler

Sampler by Ann Pasteur Maupin

Date1791 (dated)
Artist/Maker Ann Pasteur Maupin (1781-before 1829)
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Williamsburg
MediumSilk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 32 x 39 threads per inch
DimensionsOH: 16" OW: 11 1/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1981-161
DescriptionThis is a rectangular sampler worked in shades of beige, pink, black, purple, brown, green, blue, and rust silk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 32 x 39 threads per inch. The sampler is hemmed on two sides with an approximate 1/8" hem and has badly frayed selvedges at top and bottom.
The top third of the sampler consists of:
"A-K" upper case worked in eyelet stitch
Wave motif band worked in eyelet stitch
"1-11 11" worked in eyelet stitch
Decorative band worked in eyelet stitch
"Oh Heavenly Virtue Thines [A] Sacred Flame/"
"And [S]till My Soul Pays Homage To Thy Name/" (Verse is worked in reversible cross stitch with the upper case letters in pink threads and the lower case in green.)
Wave motif band worked in eyelet stitch
The second third of the sampler consists of a centered Adam and Eve and tree motif flanked by a key on the right, a ladder on the left, two fruit trees, two crowns, two hearts, and two slender plant motifs. Above the figures of Adam and Eve are two flying birds and three equally spaced diamond motifs. All are worked in reversible cross and outline stitches. Centered below the figures of Adam and Eve is a decorative eyelet band.
The lower third of the sampler consists of the centered signature block, which reads: "Ann Pasteur Maupin Her/ sampler October The Twentieth Ninety One In/ The {Elenv]e[nth] Year of/ Her Age 1234", worked in reversible cross stitch with upper case letters in pink silk threads and lower case in green.
The sampler is enclosed on all four sides by a strawberry and vine border worked in reversible cross stitch. A small area of four-sided-reversing-to-cross stitch in black threads is in right top edge of sampler.
Stitches: double cross, four-sided, eyelet, marking cross, outline, running
Label TextWorked by ten year old Ann Pasteur Maupin of Williamsburg, Virginia, this sampler is stitched entirely in reversible stitches creating a backside just as neat as the front. It is one of six related samplers that are attributed to the area. Ann lived in Williamsburg with her parents, Gabriel and Dorcus Maupin. Her father worked as a saddler, harness maker, and tavern keeper before he was appointed keeper of the Williamsburg Magazine with the rank of captain, a post he held for sixteen years. Ann married Norborne Booth Beall in Williamsburg on November 30, 1799. In 1800 they moved to Kentucky, where Ann died sometime between 1824 and 1828.
Inscribed"Oh Heavenly Virtue Thines [A] Sacred Flame/ And [S]till My Soul Pays Homage To Thy Name"
ProvenanceThe sampler descended From Ann to her daughter Ann Matilda Andrews Beale Booth to her son Galt Worthington Booth to his daughter Lucy Hayes Booth Singleton to her son Howard Oscar Singleton who sold it to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1981.

History of Samplermaker and Sampler:
Ann Pasteur Maupin (March 23, 1781-before 1829) was the daughter of Gabriel Maupin, III (1737-1800) and his second wife, Dorcas Allen Maupin (1745-1815). The Maupins, along with the Pasteurs, were French Huguenot refuges who first settled in Virginia around 1700. Gabriel Maupin, III had strong connections to Williamsburg working as a saddler, harness maker, as well as a tavern keeper in the town. In 1775, he was appointed Keeper of the Magazine with rank of captain and held the post for sixteen years.
Ann's baptismal sponsors were Dr. Pasteur, James Steward, William Pitt, Ann Craig, Fanny Pasteur, Ann Pasteur, Sarah Cocke, and Mrs. Whitcar. Ann completed the sampler at the age of ten in 1791. She married Norborne Booth Beall in Williamsburg on November 30, 1799, and that following year their first daughter, Ann Matilda Andrews Beall was born on October 21 in Williamsburg. Later that year the young family moved to Kentucky where her father had been granted 4000 acres of land for his services during the Revolutionary War. The couple had two more children: Samuel Beall, and William G. Beall. Ann died sometime between 1824 and May 29, 1828. The Beall home, Spring Station on Trinity Road, still stands today as an early example of Federal style architecture in Louisville, Kentucky.