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Pole Top Discoveries' Event #2404
Invoices should be completed by mid afternoon Saturday
#3624 "1842 Cooke insulator" Yellow-orange. 
- Sold Winning Bid: $100.00
- 3 Bid(s) View Bid History
- Lot # 3624
- System ID # 772768
- End Date
- Start Date
#3624 Unmarked. Glazed pottery. Yellow-orange.
Length: 3 inches. One of the oldest insulators in existence.
The yellow orange colouration is scarcer than the grey/cream colored stoneware typically encountered.
Reportedly found by an archaeologist in 2008 at the site of the old York, England railway station which was constructed in 1840. All similar examples which have been offered in the recent past are believed to have been from this one excavation.
A patent was issued to W. F. Cooke in 1842 for telegraph lines to be constructed using overhead wires attached to poles. The line wire was inserted through the insulators which were attached to poles or supports by using a metal staple placed over the center groove.
This type insulator was likely produced as early as 1842 and was placed in service until about 1848, at which time other styles became more practical and popular. In reference to the manufacture of early English insulators, the late English researcher Steven Roberts stated: “One of the earliest and largest suppliers was Joseph Bourne & Son, of the Denby Pottery, Derbyshire, who were stone bottle and jar manufacturers. They had the advantage of patent kilns for making the inexpensive strong earthenware called ‘stoneware’. The earliest insulators by W. F. Cooke were made at Denby, and they continued in that line for a century.”
These ancient relics represent the earliest stages of telegraphic communication in the world, at a time when line insulation was in the trial and error phase. Although simple in form, they are well made and had a practical design. The back side is flat, allowing the insulator to fit snugly against the support. Only a limited number of examples have been found.
The flat backside of the insulator is at the bottom in the second photo.
Third photo ( copied from an 1859 book) shows an enlarged representation of the Cooke insulator at top. The dotted line represents the line wire passing through the interior hole. This view show the appearance of the insulator with the staple attached, thus covering the center groove.
Bottom illustration in the third photo illustrates five line wires passing through the Cooke insulators that are mounted horizontally to supports.
Fourth photo shows York Station, the location where the historic insulators were found.
Two small surface flakes at the wire ridge and another at far right in the first photo.