TESTA ROSSO

Beautiful ceramic earrings made and hand painted in Italy by local artisans with brass hook.

These cute little faces have an interesting story worth reading.

History of the Testa di Moro

The Testa di Moro, a symbol of Sicily that has its origin in an ancient legend around the year 1100 when Sicily was under Muslim rule. One day, a Moor who was walking through Palermo saw a young woman taking care of the plants on her balcony and fell in love with her beauty and she reciprocated him. But later he discovered that he had to return to his homeland, where his wife and children were waiting for him. Desperate and mad with fury, that night, as soon as her lover fell asleep, she murdered him and cut off his head. With the Testa di moro he made a vase and planted basil, placing it on his balcony. The plant, watered every day with the young woman's tears, grew and grew, becoming the envy of the neighbors, who imitated it by making head-shaped vases that soon filled the balconies of the city.