Vase Italy Maiolica Fruit Queen

Handmade in Italy

The art of Maiolica pottery was brought to Sicily by the Arabics who taught Sicilian how to create these wonderful objects, now real pieces of art.

In he thirteenth-century, the Spaniards of Aragon were the first who referred to colored Sicilian ceramic objects as “maiolica”, because the firing and glazing techniques used to create these pieces were similar to those used in the Balearic Islands of Majorca.

The legend of the Moorish head goes back in the XI century, during the Moors domination in Sicily and as in most legends, is once again Cupid’s fault (or credit).

One day, a beautiful and honorable young girl living in the Kalsa, the arabic district of Palermo, was taking care of plants and flowers in the balcony of her house as she was used to. 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.

Only 1 piece available, signed by the local artist.