Head Case

Question: Where can you purchase these popular souvenirs, inspired by violent legends of betrayal and revenge?

Answer: Sicily

Although a case could certainly be made for T-shirts with Marlon Brando as The Godfather, Sicily’s most iconic souvenirs are the traditional hand-painted "Moor’s head vases." Called Teste di Moro, they are steeped in legends dating back to Moorish domination of the island and continue to serve as symbols of Sicily’s rich culture

For anyone who’s been to Sicily, it’s hard to miss the colorful ceramic planters that adorn gardens and balconies across the island—heads of a woman and a man, both wearing crowns with the male also sporting a turban, facial hair, and rather distinct North African features.

Or if you haven’t been to Sicily yet, maybe you caught the second season of the award-winning HBO series, The White Lotus. "What is with these head things," an arriving guest says in the first episode, "We keep seeing them everywhere." The concierge then explains the Sicilian legend behind the Moor’s head vases that are in each room—and viewers soon realize that this rather gruesome legend is what drives the storyline of the entire season.

So, what is with these head things?

The most widely accepted origin story of the "Moor’s head vases" begins in the year 1000 in one of the Arab quarters or Palermo. One day, a young Arab merchant is out on a stroll and notices a beautiful young Sicilian woman cultivating plants and flowers on her terrace. He is smitten and declares his eternal love for the girl, who is moved by his sweet words. She succumbs to his romantic overtures, and they begin a passionate love affair. All is well until one day when the Moor tells her that he must leave Palermo and return home—where his wife and children are waiting for him. Unaware that her beloved has another family, she is heartbroken. Then, her being Sicilian and all, her heartbreak turns to jealousy and rage at the betrayal—and she plans a vendetta. Inviting her lover over to spend their final night together, she waits until he falls asleep, and—severs his head! Then, she puts the severed head out on the terrace with her other pots and fills it with basil seeds (she thought that basil, being the royal herb, befitted the Moorish conqueror). The basil soon grows so lush and fragrant that the neighbors become jealous and want their own—prompting local craftsmen to begin creating planters just like the flourishing Moor’s head on the Sicilian maiden’s terrace.

Another version has the Sicilian girl falling in love with a young Arab. Then, when her family gets wind of the affair, they behead them both and turn the heads into vases to be displayed on their balcony as a warning to others. There are other slightly different versions of the tale, but the ending is always the same—Moor gets decapitated by betrayed Sicilian woman, and head turns into a blooming pot of basil.

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Initially, the ceramic vases depicted just the one Moor’s head. A female version was added later, representing the two lovers. Meant to be displayed together, both versions were equally adorned with jewelry, ornamental fruit, sometimes turbans, and always crowns on both heads. The male is usually shown flaunting a goatee or virile moustache, and the women might have blue eyes, but the skin tones varied greatly—and were meant to be the same for the male and female.

By relating the legend behind the Teste di Moro in The White Lotus, resort guests were meant to pick up on the age-old warning that infidelity and hedonistic behavior could get you into big trouble. They didn’t, of course.

Are Teste di Moro going out of fashion?

A huge scandal erupted in Milan in 2012, over the choice of accessories by Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana—particularly the stylized Moor’s head earrings that dangled from the lobes of their all-white team of runway models. The outrage was immediate—with the United States and England leading the way. Dolce & Gabbana were accused of "profiting from slave culture" and being "racially insensitive," and comparing the jewelry to "Aunt Jemima dolls" and "mammy earrings." The reaction may have puzzled Domenico Dolce—the Sicilian born half of the renowned fashion brand—as the notorious earrings were simply reproductions of the ubiquitous Moor’s head ceramic vases that have been decorating Sicilian homes for centuries.

So is it fair to compare Moor’s head vases to offensive objects like "lawn jockeys" that romanticize scenes from the era of slavery? The problem is, to some people, the decorative images and figures of lavishly dressed black people represent one thing—slavery. Yet to Dolce & Gabbana, this had nothing to do with enslaved people. The Moors were conquerors, not the conquered. Moors’ head ceramic vases are rooted in the Arab domination of Sicily, which is widely acknowledged as the zenith of the island’s lengthy history.

What muddies the issue is that there is a popular decorative art motif in Europe and mainland Italy known as "blackamoor." Rooted in the 17th century, these decorative pieces reflect romantic notions of Western colonialism and racial conquest by depicting blacks in positions of servitude, like waiters or footmen. Because blackamoor art emphasizes the "blackness" of its subjects, it is difficult not to see how these objects may offend most people.

The Moor’s head vases in Sicilian tradition, as noted, spring from an entirely different historic era. When Arabs from present-day Tunisia conquered Sicily in 827, they would go on to rule for the next 250 years—introducing Sicilians to everything from citrus cultivation and irrigation systems to algebra, cannoli, and couscous. Referred to as "Moors" (a vague term coined by Europeans to identify the "other," and not a single race, ethnicity, or religion), they also brought along their master craftsmen to train Sicilians in majolica, the multi-colored glazing techniques for ceramics.

Among the typical pieces Sicilian ceramicists began producing were Teste di Moro—and the skin tone of the Moor depicted on these vases ran the chromatic gamut—from pitch black, to brown, to off-white, to white—just like the ones that are produced today. These different colorations were also represented at Dolce & Gabbana’s fashion show, but the focus was only on the "Black" Moor. Still, one can’t help wondering if the controversy could have been avoided altogether had the term "diversity" occurred to anyone at Dolce & Gabbana—and their spring collection had featured some Black models on the runway that day.

Master craftsmen from across the island continue to make Moor’s head vases, which make wonderful keepsakes while revealing the most influential cultural legacy of Sicily’s lengthy past. The best variety of Moor’s head vases can be found in the renowned ceramics town of Caltagirone—you might call it the "headquarters" of Teste di Moro.

Wait, there’s Moor … Ceramics aren’t the only Sicilian souvenirs

• Take the T-shirt, leave the cannoli—If that Godfather T-shirt sounded like the perfect gift for an annoying relative, you may out of luck. Sicily has begun a campaign to ban the sale of all mafia-related gifts and souvenirs. This includes those T-shirts and any item that promotes "negative stereotypes that humiliate the community." The mayor of Agrigento has just banned "any type of object that praises, or refers in any way and form, to the mafia and organized crime." Airports in Sicily have also just been told to clear their shops of all mafia memorabilia. Businesses that do not comply will be burned to the (just kidding, they’ll be fined).


• When you’re pining for the perfect gift—If the grisly story behind the Moor’s Head vases has caused you to cross them off your gift list, there are many other Caltagirone ceramics that make excellent Sicilian keepsakes. You can’t go wrong with the Pigna—the pine cone. Regarded as symbols of fertility, health, and prosperity for centuries in Sicily, pigna are found in shops and homes across the island—and are often given as gifts for newlyweds.


• No strings attached—Hand-painted Sicilian puppets—Pupi Siciliani—make perfect keepsakes of one of Sicily’s most cherished cultural traditions, the Opera dei Pupi. An art form dating to the mid-19th century, the Puppet Opera features a wide range of farcical characters as well as Christian and Saracen warriors.


• Putting the cart before the horse—The horse- and donkey-drawn carts used for centuries in Sicily inspired craftsmen to create elaborately decorated miniature versions that make great souvenirs. The toy carts are made of wood and feature hand-painted symbols meant to ward off evil spirits. There are also miniature versions of Sicily’s more modern form of daily transport—the three-wheeled ape.


• No one makes chocolate like Modica makes chocolate—Uniquely Sicilian, artisan chocolate made in the town of Modica make perfect gifts for anyone with a sweet tooth. Modica chocolate is crafted using a centuries-old "cold-working" process that gently heats the chocolate so that the sugar crystals don’t fully dissolve, giving them a distinctive texture and flavor.

Be on the lookout for Sicily’s famed ceramics when you join us for New! Journey Through Southern Italy: Sicily, the Aeolian Islands, Calabria & Puglia.