This is the bottom view of a pickup from a 1939 Supro 60 lap steel. Even in the early days they used split coil pickups
The bottom edge that you are looking at is where the strings anchor.
And the little bit of green wire at the left of the picture is the string ground, as the pickups are built into the bridge. It's not connected to the pot, so it makes funny sounds when you play it.
Tomorrow I will try and post a pic of the top of the bridge/pickup.