Germany, Imperial. A First World War Austro-German Alliance Patriotic Stein

(Bierkrug). Constructed of glazed off-white earthenware, the exterior bearing central painted images of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Emperor Franz Joseph, situated within a green oak leaf wreath wrapped in ribbons executed in the red, white, and black tri-colours of Germany and the black and yellow bi-colours of Austria, joined together at the bottom by German and Austro-Hungarian coats of arms with a central 1914 Iron Cross, topped by a date of “1914”, and flanked by an inscription of “WIR HALTEN FEST UN TREU ZUSAMMEN” (“WE STAND TOGETHER FIRMLY AND LOYALLY”), the base circumscribed by a painted red, white, and black German tri-colour, featuring a protruding handle flanked by a measurement of “1/2L” for one half litre, with a functional pewter hinge affixed to the handle topped by a thumb piece consisting of a detailed German national eagle adorned with a crown, connecting to a pewter lid bearing a depressed 1914 Iron Cross, the base maker marked with the logo of an unidentified manufacturer, measuring 13.5 cm (w) (inclusive of handle) x 17 cm (h) (inclusive of thumb piece), demonstrating minor flecking to the glaze and paint but with no evident chips or cracks, a superb example of First World War patriotica in extremely fine condition.