PAUL MANSHIP'S 1930 HAIL TO DIONYSUS MEDAL

HAIL TO DIONYSUS, 1930. Murtha 265; Marqusee 256. 72.2mm. Bronze. Paul Manship, Sc. Uncirculated with an attractive chocolate bronze patina. (MACO). Original descriptive pamphlet. The obverse bears a head of Dionysus rising from a kylix (a classical Greek drinking cup). The two line legend reads: HAIL TO DIONYSUS WHO FIRST DISCOVERED/ THE MAGIC OF THE GRAPE. On the reverse, two satyrs dance out the vintage flanked by bunches of grapes.

Struck in the middle of the Prohibition era, this medal did not go unnoticed. According the Harry Rand, “The Society of Medalists second issue produced an uproar, caused by the gentlest tempest in an otherwise occupied teacup. Manship's 1930 salute to Bacchus presented the god of wine and debauchery rather too attractively for some of its viewers. Protests were received from members of the Society of Medalists and one member threatened to resign if ‘any more insults to the Constitution are perpetrated in the name of art'.”

Manship stated, “So, on the reverse of the medal, two satyrs are treading the winepress. Their stupid faces, pointed ears, goat legs and tails, betray the dominance of animal instincts which their master Dionysus exemplifies. The medal is not conventional. It is subtly humorous, and is symbolic of a present-day attitude toward certain restraints of the times. Thus it is commemorative of an era.” This was the 2nd issue of the Society of Medalists. $250.00

Wayne Homren, Editor

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