55cm giant Sicilian ceramic Moorish heads from Caltagirone, Caltagirone heads, Moorish heads, ceramic heads, vases, plant holders

Sicilian Moorish heads entirely hand-crafted H 55 W 40
By buying them as a pair you will save on the total and on the shipping cost!

The original Moorish heads created by masters of art represent a thousand-year-old love story,

these heads in particular are really big and impactful,
they can be used as plant holders and also as umbrella stands
ideal to place at the entrance of your home,
remember that real ceramics can be left outside, they are weather resistant.
they bring luck and prosperity to their owner.

huge representation of the Moorish heads in the classic Caltagirone style

Moor's heads can be used as vases to make your space unique and elegant.

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History of the Moor's Heads

It is said that around 1100 AD, during the domination of the Muslims in Sicily, also known as Moors, in the Arab quarter of Palermo called “Al Hàlisah” (which means the pure or the chosen one), today known as the Kalsa district, a beautiful young girl lived her solitary days locked in her house, tending to the plants on her balcony, the only way she could see the world outside that house which, despite being rich and majestic, seemed to her like a gilded prison.

One day, from the heights of her flower-filled balcony, she was seen by a young Moor who, having fallen in love with her at first sight and seized by a violent passion, did not hesitate to declare his love for her.

The young girl, having never been courted and struck by the promise of love that the young Moor made her, reciprocated his feelings and allowed him to enter that majestic house.

However, the young Moor, despite having given in to passion with the beautiful girl, had a wife and children in the East to return to. When he revealed the terrible news to the girl, bitter at the betrayed love that was about to abandon her, she was seized by a fatal rage and jealousy, still said to be typical of Sicilian women, which drove her to seek revenge.

So at the end of the last night spent together, which was a prelude to the return journey, after having given in to passion, he, having fallen into a deep sleep in her arms, slept unaware of his fate, then the girl put her revenge into practice and struck him to death.

Furthermore, the face of that young man, whom she had madly loved in that short time, was meant to remain by her side forever, so she cut off his head, creating with it an object similar to a vase that she placed on the balcony and planted a basil shoot inside (she chose basil because this fragrant plant, from the Greek “Basilikòs”, king, represents the herb of sovereigns).

Thus, by taking daily care of the plants on her balcony, the girl continued to take care of her beloved, from whom she was never separated again.

Every day she watered that basil with her tears, making the plant ever more flourishing and luxuriant.

The neighbors, looking with envy at the plant that was growing conspicuously and giving off an intense scent in that bizarre head-shaped vase, had terracotta vases made that reproduced the same appearance as the one kept by the girl.