Sicilian "Teste di Moro"/ Moorish heads

These two head vases represent the famous Sicilian Moorish Heads. The legend of the Moorish heads goes back in the XI century, during the Moors domination in Sicily. One day, a beautiful and honorable young girl living in Palermo, was taking care of plants and flowers in the balcony of her house. Suddenly, a Moor merchant who was passing by, fell in love with the beautiful girl who immediately returned his love. They started having a love story until when she discovered he already had a wife and children waiting for him in his native land. She went suddenly crazy of jealousy and one night, while he was sleeping she thought of a way to make him stay with her forever! She therefore cut off his head and cleverly decided to use it as a vase to grow her beautiful basil plant. People walking down her balcony started looking at her flourishing plant of basil and became jealous of how bloomed her plants were, so they began to forge colourful clay heads pots wishing to have the same magic green thumb. Today these vases represent the Sicilian ceramic art all over the world.

Ref. : 31JFP321