In 1717 Thomas Grambroux rebuilt a house at Mariastraat 17, which was called "De pijp" (=pipe). The house name changed to "de moriaen" (=Moor) after 1732, when it was sold to Gerard Braex. The name apparently fell into disuse afterwards, because the gable stone literature always mentions "the head".
Nevertheless, this black head with its hairstyle and earrings can justifiably be seen as a Moor or a Gaper (Yawner). Yawners generally had a black skin, perhaps as a reference to the East, which was considered the cradle of all knowledge in the field of herbs and medicines.
And they were traditionally the sign of pharmacists, druggists and chemists. They may have been dressed differently, but they had one thing in common: an open mouth, as a necessary willingness on the part of the patient to open his mouth for an examination, to swallow medicine and to have his teeth pulled.
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