A Late 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Decorated with a Painted Image of the Circa 1680 John Nichols House in Danvers, Massachusetts

I recently learned about this late nineteenth century painted red earthenware vase that is in the collection of the Danvers, Massachusetts Historical Society. I suspect the vase was manufactured and decorated at the Charles A. Lawrence (1829-1904) Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts, although it is adorned with a painted image of the circa 1680 John Nichols (1640-1700) House, which was located in the Hathorne area of Danvers. 

The image used on the vase was taken from an earlier painting of the structure that is also in the collection of the Danvers Historical Society. However, a drawing of the house was also published in the Essex Institute Historical Collections in 1918. The house is located near the present-day Nichols Road, and was demolished in the early twentieth century.

According to some information published in Essex Institute Historical Collections, "John Nichols House. This tract of land included the hundred acres of upland and ten acres of meadow which were granted by the town of Salem to Henry Bartholomew Aug. 10, 1642, to be laid out "a little beyond Mr. Bishops land." In 1651, Mr. Bartholomew conveyed it to William Nichols (1599-1696), who built a house thereon. He lived here, being a husbandman, and died in the winter of 1695-1696, at the age of ninety-six. He had conveyed to his son John Nichols and the latter's wife Lydia (1644-1739) his farm " I now live on," Jan. 6, 1678." In this deed the father reserved a life estate to himself..."

Furthermore, William Nichols was born in England and migrated to America sometime after 1630 and before John was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts in 1640. William's wife, Elizabeth (1605-1696) was also from the Southwick family, some of whom were persecuted for their Quaker faith in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1650s.

Note: There will be a section about the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in my forthcoming tenth book that I am working on now, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers, Peabody and Salem Massachusetts, although in the meantime - for more information - see my first published book, titled, The Beverly Pottery: The Wares of Charles A. Lawrence: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-beverly-pottery-the-wares-of-charles-a-lawrence/.

Vase Decorated with a Painted Image of the Circa 1680 John Nichols House

Late 19th Century Painted Red Earthenware Vase

Likely Made at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts

The Artwork Represents the Nichols House in Danvers, Mass.

This House was Torn Down in the Early 20th Century

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Danvers Historical Society

Drawing of the Circa 1680 John Nichols House

Published in the Essex Institute Historical Collections in 1918

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum

John Nichols' Probate Record from 1699

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Essex County Probate Records

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...