Sicilian handcrafted Moorish heads, vases, Caltagirone ceramics, design, home decoration, Sicilian craftsmanship, faces, vases

Large Sicilian Moor's heads in Caltagirone ceramics entirely hand-made in shape and decoration H34 L25

you can buy them individually or choose the pair with a white or black man.

The original Moorish heads created by the masters of art of Caltagirone represent a thousand-year-old love story,
they bring luck and prosperity to their owner.
Moor's heads can be used as vases to make your space unique and elegant.
These heads have a polished finish which makes them a very valuable item.
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Each head is entirely handmade and any imperfections or slight differences in shape and size are part of its craftsmanship.

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.