Fine and Rare Needlework Sampler, Jane Catherine Esser, The Mason School, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, dated 1841

Worked in brilliant wool and silk on a linen ground, signed Jane Catherine Esser, March 3th 1841 was 8 year of age.

Bea Cohen Antiques, Philadelphia, October, 1988.

American Needlework Treasures: Samplers and Silk Embroideries from the Collection of Betty Ring at the Museum of American Folk Art (p. 49, fig. 83)

Some minor staining around the inscription; some small areas at the extreme bottom (in berries) where stitches are lacking.
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Jane's embroidery belongs to a late but important group of samplers from a school kept by Elizabeth B. Mason and her husband in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, from about 1835 until 1850.  It depicts the Franklin Academy and Old Saint John's Union Church on White Oak Street (for a similar piece, see Glee Krueger, A Gallery of American Samplers, fig. 122).  Jane Catherine Esser was the daughter of Samuel Esser and Hannah Overbeck of Kutztown. Her father was a farmer.