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1996-815, Sampler
Sampler Signed by William Levington
1996-815, Sampler

Sampler Signed by William Levington

DateJuly 4, 1832 (dated)
Signed by William Levington
OriginAmerica, Maryland, Baltimore
MediumSilk and crinkled silk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 28 x 28 threads per inch (fiber identification by lab)
DimensionsUnframed: 22 1/8" x 21 1/4"; selvages at sides, 3/16" at top and bottom.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1996-815
DescriptionThis is an almost square needlework sampler worked in pink, purple, blue, green, red, white, yellow, and orange silk and crinkled silk embroidery threads on a linen ground. The sampler has selvages at the sides. The design consists of a centered large woven basket filled with large scaled flowers. The basket has ornamental peacock-head handles. The basket sits on a plinth with a beehive which has upside down flower buds at sides. The plinth divides the inscription: "Worked by William Levington Rector/ of St. James First African P. E. Church/ in Baltimore and/ Respectfully presented to/ James Bosley Esq. July the 4 1832." A large scale flower bud and vine border is at the sides. Below inscriptions and side borders at bottom of sampler are large scaled upside down strawberries. The bottom border is of grass.

Stitches: cross and satin
Label TextThis extraordinary sampler was signed by William Levington, an African-American pastor and founder of St. James First African Protestant Episcopal Church in Baltimore. The sampler was stitched in honor of James Bosley, a white lawyer who donated land for the church building in 1825. Samplers associated with male adults are so rare that their numbers are not documented. Almost as rare are samplers marked by African-Americans of either sex. The Reverend Levington could have expressed his gratitude in a number of ways--he could have commissioned a piece of silver or furniture in Bosley's honor, written a poem, or presented a plaque. William Levington, however, chose to demonstrate his gratitude through the intimate stitches of a sampler.

ProvenanceThe sampler first came to the public eye in 1996, when it was on loan to the Maryland Historical Society for six months, as part of an exhibition entitled "Sankofa & the Maryland Tradition," which featured artifacts from the collection of Derrick Joshua Beard. Per Amy Finkel, the sampler was purchased in the early 1990s by Sidney Lazarowitz. At that time it was not framed and there was no evidence of original framing.

History of sampler maker:
"William Levington was born a free black in New York City and spent his youth in Philadelphia, where he worked in a bookstore operated by the Potter family and became the protégé of Alonzo Potter (1800-1865), an Episcopal priest. Levington went with Potter to Albany, New York, and then enrolled in Union College in nearby Schenectady under Potter's tutelage. While studying for the priesthood, Levington taught in a school for children of color organized on the Lancasterian system. He returned to Philadelphia in 1822 to continue his studies and was ordained a deacon in 1824." See Phyllis L. Chandler, HERITAGE OF HOPE AND SACRIFICE: THE REMARKABLE JOURNEYS OF REV. WILLIAM LEVINGTON (Saint James' Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore, 2002), pp. 1-11." "Levington was ordained an Episcopal priest by Bishop William White (1748-1836) in Philadelphia in 1828. He was listed in Baltimore directories as a schoolteacher and not as a minister until the 1835-36 edition of MATCHETT'S BALTIMORE DIRECTOR, when he was listed as William Levington, colored, pastor, Saint James' Church." Quoted from Allen, "African American Samplers."