Original U.S. WWI Shell Casing Trench Art Set - 3 Items Category_MG 34 Mounts featuring many of the above

featuring many of the above people

with the outbreak of the First World War

though it is also possibly a Halbscharfe (semi-sharp) DHG17

The rifle has matching serial number FH 72564 on the barrel

it is maker marked on the back in German Fraktur type by a company that we cannot find much information on:

Original U.S. WWI Shell Casing Trench Art Set - 3 Items Category_MG 34 Mounts featuring many of the aboveOriginal Items: Only One Lot of 3 Available. Trench art is any decorative item made by soldiers, prisoners of war, or civilians where the manufacture is directly linked to armed conflict or its consequences. It offers an insight not only to their feelings and emotions about the war, but also their surroundings and the materials they had available to them. Not limited to the World Wars, the history of trench art spans conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars