The bronze volute krater, known as the "Derveni Crater", is made by bronze hammered lamellae, additional molded bronze statuettes, and silver ornamental elements. It was used as a funerary urn in a tomb for an aristocrat, located near modern Derveni (ancient Lete).

The body of the vase depicts the sacred marriage of Dionysus with Ariadne. The couple is surrounded by the god's followers, the maenads and a satyr, who dance in ecstasy. Mythical heroes who rejected the god's worship are probably depicted to the right of Dionysus. They are Leucippe, the daughter of the Orchomenian king, who holds her son Hippasus by his ankle, and Lycurgus, the Thracian king of Edonoi (some researchers identify him as Pentheus or Jason). In both cases the god punished them with divine madness. As a result, they tore their children, believing in the first case that he was a small fawn, and in the second a vineyard. To the left of Ariadne, the Maenads tear apart a small fawn and Lycurgus is about to attack with the sword he holds in his right hand.

The volutes or the large krater are decorated with four masks in relief, depicting Herakles, a horned river deity (Acheloos?), Hades (?) and Dionysus-Hades (?). The last two have hair that looks like snakes. The neck of the vessel is decorated with animals and ivy leaves. The four statuettes on the shoulder are identified with the young Dionysus, a Satyr and two Maenads. On the rim of the vase, there is the inscription «Ἀστιούνειος Ἀναξαγοραῖοι ἐς Λαρίσας» (Astioúneios Anaxagoraīoi es Larísas), i.e., the owner of the vase is Astiouneios, son of Anaxagoras, from Larissa.