Published in Figure 5a in Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares is a picture that is described as, "the kiln at the Lawrence pottery, Beverly, Mass., after fire May 14, 1883." Interestingly, I searched for a few years trying to locate the whereabouts of this picture because I wanted to include it in the first book I wrote, titled, The Beverly Pottery: The Wares of Charles A. Lawrence. Unfortunately, I had no luck, although I did thoroughly search Watkins' collections at both the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. But there was no record of either museum owning the picture
However, I remember a few years back when I was in a rural part of upstate New York, and a friend called me to say that he had just pulled a picture of an 1800s kiln out of an old antiques dealer's estate that he was handling on the Neck in Marblehead, Massachusetts. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when I finally got to his house a few weeks later with my niece Alexis, we were shocked to learn that he had found the original picture. I was also thrilled that he was willing to sell it; I later learned that this woman had owned the picture for more than 60 years and she was good friends with Watkins. Much of her estate was later sold through auction, and some great objects were discovered in it, including some red earthenware that I bought that was made in the Salem, Massachusetts area around the turn of the nineteenth century.
Furthermore, I was recently doing some archival newspaper research for a forthcoming book, and I came across the Boston Evening Transcript's account of this fire, which was published the next day on Tuesday May 15, 1883 (see last two photos), where it was estimated that the fire cost the business $50,000.
Additionally, I consider this to be among the most significant nineteenth century photos (and perhaps the most significant) of early red earthenware production in New England that is known to exist today, whether it be in a private, museum or library collection.
Note: For more information about the Beverly Pottery, see my first book in my pottery book series published by Historic Beverly, titled, The Beverly Pottery: The Wares of Charles A. Lawrence: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-beverly-pottery-the-wares-of-charles-a-lawrence/
Newspaper Account of a Fire at the Beverly Pottery on May 14, 1883
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