Pair Sicilian Ceramic Moor's Heads "Fruit"

Pair of Sicilian Moor's Heads in Caltagirone ceramic made and decorated entirely by hand by master craftsmen of Sicily.

Height 14 cm.

The Moor's heads depict a man and a woman, protagonists of a legend that has enchanted admirers of Sicilian history and culture for almost a thousand years.

Legend has it that a young girl, who lived at the beginning of 1100 AD, was very beautiful and devoted to caring for her plants on the balcony of her house in Palermo, in the Kalsa district. She fell madly in love with a Moorish soldier, who was also overwhelmed by his passion for the beautiful woman.

According to one version of the legend, the girl was deceived by the soldier: in reality he was married and had children, and ready to abandon her to return to his homeland. The discovery of this tradition pushed the girl to kill her lover in his sleep, to decapitate him and to use the head as a vase for basil, which was then put on display on the balcony of the house. Again according to the tragic legend, the basil was so rigorous that it aroused the envy of all the neighbors, who began to have the craftsmen make vases in the shape of heads , that is, the current Moor's heads (also called by some Turks' Heads), a symbol of passion and love that must not be betrayed.         

Colors and shades may differ slightly from the photo. Since these are 100% handmade products, any imperfections are part of the manufacturing process and attest to the originality of the products.