1950s Handmade Mosaic of Bacchus Greek God of Wine Hand Made on Vintage MCM Tray Kyes of Pasadena

This is both a functional piece and can be used for serving your guests and it’s also great artwork and decorative and can be mounted on a wall or a perfect piece to display in your home bar or kitchen. There’s no question this tray is an image of the Greek God Dionysis also known by the Romans as Bacchus.

Dionysus, Greek god of wine and revelry, was more than just a ‘party god’
Dionysus could bring holy ecstasy to his followers and cruel revenge to his foes. Associated with rebirth, he shaped religious practices across the Mediterranean until the dawn of Christianity.

Dionysus was so much more than just the master of the vine; he was also charged with fertility, fruitfulness, theatre, ecstasy, and abandon. Whether called Dionysus (his Greek name) or Bacchus (his Roman one), he is perhaps the strangest of the gods in the vast classical pantheons. Though his pagan-like cults and mysteries may seem to have existed outside the usual Greco-Roman religious and philosophical spheres, archaeological evidence in the 20th century proved that he was a fully realised god.

Dionysus is depicted as an older man on a sixth-century B.C. plate from the British Museum.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ACI
The son of an immortal god and a mortal princess, Dionysus’ role forged a crucial link between humanity and the divine, serving as a force of cyclical, unbridled nature who drew men and women out of themselves through intoxication. In that sense, Dionysus, a genial but wild and dangerously ravishing intermediary, represents one of the enduring mysteries and paradoxes of life.

Dionysus’ association with wine embodies this paradox. Wine is a delicious beverage with medicinal properties, but it also intoxicates. It brings liberation and ecstasy, yet, like any initiatory experience, it also introduced the risks of losing hold of identity and control. Probably more than you needed to know!

This is a fantastic piece of hand cut glass pieces that were applied in a mosaic style to an original Mid century modern tray made by Moire Glaze by Kyes, a very sought after MCM 50’s brand.