A testa di moro is a ceramic head, modelled and painted by hand, that Sicily has kept at its entrances and on its balconies for centuries. If you are buying your first one, four questions are enough: where it will stand, how much room you have, which finish suits your rooms, whether it is for you or for somebody else. Answer them in that order and a hundred and fifty pieces come down to about ten.
This page sorts, it does not explain everything. Each question gets the short answer, and a link to the article that treats it in full where one exists, so you can stop at the first level or go down where you need to.
The route in short
- Where it will stand, which decides all the rest.
- How much room you have, meaning the width and the depth of the surface.
- Which finish, the one choice that is really about taste.
- For you or for somebody else, because a gift is chosen on different grounds.
The two questions that come afterwards, once a piece already appeals to you, are whether it was made by hand and whether it really comes from Caltagirone. Those have answers too, further down.
First question: where it will stand
Not "the living room". The exact spot: that cabinet, that shelf, that step in the garden. It is the answer that governs the others, because it fixes the size, the finish and even the direction the face should look.
Three placements work almost always: a hall console where the piece is the first thing seen, a sideboard against a plain wall, a shelf at eye level with light coming from the side. Two look promising and are not: the middle of a dining table, where it blocks the sightline between people, and a busy corridor, where the most visible spot is also the most knocked into. Room by room, the reasoning is in decorating with a testa di moro.
Second question: how much room you have
Two numbers are needed, the width of the surface and its depth. The height follows from a simple proportion. This is the step where people most often go wrong, and nearly always in the same direction, by choosing too small.
The full calculation, surface by surface, is in how to choose the size of a testa di moro. Do it now, before you fall for a decoration.
Third question: which finish
This is where the look is decided, and it is easier than it sounds because there are only a few families.
- Traditional ornato. Full colours, plant motifs, a worked crown. It sits well where there is already wood, iron or stone.
- Plain monochrome. One colour, the shape doing the work on its own. This is the right call in pale rooms, where a full decoration turns into noise.
- Pearl, gold and lustre. Surfaces that shift with the light. They ask for light and a neutral background, and they are the most delicate to clean.
Fourth question: for you or a gift
It changes everything, not only the budget. For yourself you can take on a demanding piece and live alongside it. For a gift the choice moves towards something that will sit well in a house that is not yours, so mid sizes and finishes that do not impose a style.
On what the gesture means, which in Sicily is not a detail, there is giving a testa di moro.
Liquid error (snippets/blog-collection-featured line 21): comparison of String with 0 failedThe two questions that come later
Once a piece already appeals to you, the serious doubts start. There are two of them, and each has an answer.
Is it really handmade?
The quickest way is to compare two examples of the same model and see whether the decoration matches. All the other signs, from the brush to the glaze to the weight, are in handmade or factory made.
Does it really come from Caltagirone?
That is a different question from the first, and it is about origin rather than about workmanship. The six checks, from the underside of the piece to the questions to put to the seller, are in how to recognise an authentic testa di moro.
What to allow for
Price climbs with the height and with the work the decoration asks for: the relation between centimetres and cost is set out in how to choose the size. Each piece carries its own price, shipping is shown at checkout, and the parcel travels insured.
Everything about buying a fragile object at a distance, from the packing to the timings to returns, has an article of its own: buying a testa di moro online.
What you do not need to know yet
Many people stop to study before choosing, and it is not necessary. The legend of the two lovers, the meaning of the symbol, how to clean it: all of that can be read later, with the piece already at home. If you would enjoy arriving prepared, start with what teste di moro mean and with the legend behind them.
Three things we tell everyone buying their first piece
- Expect differences from the photograph. Tones, shadings, tiny irregularities: on a hand painted piece they are there and they are the good part. Why, is in handmade or factory made.
- Do not put it where everybody walks. The most visible spot is often the most exposed to knocks. A protected corner with good light gives far more than a shelf in the hallway.
- If you want to put a plant in it, ask first. Not every head has a drainage hole, and standing water on the glaze is not a good idea. Write to us with the model in mind and we will tell you which one you are looking at.
Common questions
Which size is best for a first purchase?
A middle height, one that sits on a console or a cabinet without forcing you to move what is around it. The exact number depends on your own surface.
One or the pair?
One to begin with, unless the spot is symmetrical, like the two sides of an entrance or two facing shelves. The pair can be completed later, as long as the line stays in the catalogue.
Can I see the piece before buying it?
You can ask for photographs of the actual example we would ship you. Anyone passing through Caltagirone can see it in person in our showroom.
And if it arrives damaged?
The parcel travels insured. Photograph the packing and the piece before you move anything, then write to us. The return conditions and the transport cover are in the store's terms of sale.
The next step
Take the tape measure, look at the surface where you want it, and only then open the catalogue. In that order people rarely go wrong, and the first testa di moro is the one that decides whether a second will follow.
The full collection holds every size and every finish. If you would rather start from what other people choose most often, look at the most requested pieces and come back to the four questions only to confirm.
