Germany, Imperial. A First World War Dual Alliance Stein

(Zweibund Erinnerungs-Krug). A very well-preserved First World War Dual Alliance commemorative stein, constructed of glazed off-white earthenware, the exterior bearing a hand-painted depiction of uniformed German and Austrian soldiers clutching national standards, above an inscription of “WIR WOLLEN SEIN EIN EINIG VOLK VON BRÜDERN IN KEINER NOT UNS TRENNEN NOCH GEFAHR” (“WE WANT TO BE A UNITED PEOPLE OF BROTHERS IN NO NEED OR DANGERS”), with a curved and protruding side handle flanked by a measurement mark of “½L”, with a pewter lid fastened to the handle on a functional swivel hinge, bearing a raised and wreathed 1914 Iron Cross, with the thumb grip bearing a raised German eagle circumscribed by military imagery, unmarked, measuring 95 mm (w) x 132 mm (h) (exclusive of thumb grip), a small shallow hairline crack is visible from the rim and extends directly through the measurement mark two-thirds of the way down, with an additional hairline crack extending approximately one-third of the way down from the rim directly beside the handle, neither of which have compromised the stein’s structure, in overall near extremely fine condition.