Here is a blue glazed telephone insulator, with a white band at the base. This is the shape of Italian telephone insulators from around 1880 to ca 1910. I use the nickname "Belly insulators" or "bellies" due to the belly shaped outer skirt on this pattern! This insulator was found at an abandoned railway, mounted on hooks on steel towers. The steel towers were very easy to climb, and the insulators were also very easy to take because they were fastened to the pin with a creosote impregnated rope. The rope had dried over the years - an easy picking!!