"The Lover: A prickly situation" | The streets of Sicily are adorned with beautifully decorated 'teste di moro" (Moor heads) to remind us all of the love story whispered through generations about a handsome Moor man and a beautiful Sicilian girl.

And so the story goes, a tall dark and handsome Moor Man visits Sicily during the Arab occupation and falls passionately in love with a gorgeous Sicilian Girl. As their love blossomed the Moor man confessed to the girl that he had a wife and children back home. Out of rage and jealously the Sicilian girl cut off her lover’s head while he was sleeping. She displayed it on her balcony masked as a vase growing luscious greenery. Her neighbours were envious of this unique looking vase that housed thriving plants, so they requested the local ceramicists to recreate head shaped vases.

As you walk the streets of Sicily their story lives forever, with the heads, becoming an iconic symbol in Sicilian culture and boldly placed on along balconies.

I constantly think about the head shaped vases displayed in my Nonno Giuseppe’s garden in Sydney, Australia. As a child I thought they were quirky but as I reconnected with my Sicilian heritage and strolled the streets of Sicily, I am enamoured by his craftsmanship and skills displayed by the ceramic vases proudly placed amongst his giardino. I also wonder if it is a reminder to him about the vivacious and spirited nature of Sicilian women, hence his utmost love and devotion for my Nonna Giuseppa. Because god only knows that he too could end up in a prickly situation, just like the Moor Man.