Here we have a "fat" example of, what some of us Euro-collectors refers to, a "cylinderhead". It is treble shed, aka having two inner skirts. It sports a very nice example of how binding the thick copper wire to its top; in my eyes quite impressive made and must have required some skill! Therefore it will be preserved this way, along with the patina. The thick copper wire is a piece of a railroad contact wire, with its special profile with clamping slots. This piece were retrieved by Guido Boreani and me along an old mining railway (now a museum railway) in the French alps this spring. These insulators were used for leading the power in the contact wire to a knife switch mounted on a pole beside the track, allowing to shut off the power in the contact wire.

[IFONA U]