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Black desk phone-receiver (without hand crank) in a black metal casing, seated on a black metal base . It is equipped with a bronze handset with black plastic handle mounted on a bronze cradle ("fork" design); two separate black woven cords connect it to the device and the connection. Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company (BTMC) was founded in 1882, in Belgium. It stood alongside International Bell in its effort to expand and enter the European market, where many countries pursued special trade policies to the benefit of local companies. Bell owned 45% of the shares and the remaining 55% was owned by Bell's major material suppliers, including Western Electric. In the course of the years, BTMC's business connection with and dependence from Western Electric took many forms and it was for that reason that this type was documented according to the official cataloguing carried out by BTMC. It is possible that the phone was manufactured in Belgium by Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company.