Moorish Heads

entirely handmade and hand-decorated.

Ceramiche Sofia by brothers Nicola Intonato and Giuseppe Intonato is a company in Caltagirone (Sicily, ITALY) that produces artistic majolica. The manufacturing processes that lead to the creation of our ceramics are divided into six important phases: Turning, Drying, first firing, Glazing, Decoration, and Aging.
For each of these phases, we dedicate the utmost care to every detail so that the final product is the result of a unique, inimitable, and timeless work of art.

See the processing phases of our ceramics

The Story of the beautiful Sicilian maiden and the legend of the Moor's Head
It is said that in Palermo, around the year 1100 (during the Moorish domination in Sicily, in Kalsa), a beautiful maiden lived in a palace and loved to spend her days tending to the flowers and plants on her balcony.

One day, passing through Kalsa, a young Moor saw the beautiful girl, busy tending her plants, and was smitten. He decided he wanted her for himself. Without hesitation, he entered the girl's house and declared his love for her. The maiden, touched by such strong feelings, reciprocated the young man's love, but when she learned that the Moor would leave her to return to his lands in the East, where a wife and children awaited him, she waited for nightfall and as soon as he fell asleep, she killed him, cut off his head, made it into a pot where she planted basil, and displayed it prominently on her balcony.
The Moor, thus unable to leave, would always remain with her. Meanwhile, the basil grew luxuriantly and aroused the envy of all the inhabitants of the neighborhood. To keep up, they had terracotta pots made in the shape of a Moor's head.