AFYON Vintage Kilim 128x92cm
Fiery Colors & Protective Symbols
A luminous unique piece from the West Anatolian region of Afyon – where poppy fields once shaped the land and life unfolded between heat, craftsmanship, and devotion. This hand-woven vintage kilim from the 1960s combines geometric precision with spiritual symbolism – and carries the heart of a weaver who wove protection and beauty into it.
The dynamic diamonds pulsate like a heartbeat – in powerful shades of brick red, mustard yellow, black, rust orange, and blue-gray. A rug like an echo from the earth.
Kilim Symbols & Their Interpretation
In this rug, three significant symbols appear in a clear, abstract form:
- Küpe (Earring): Symbol for love, connection, and tenderness
- Göz (Eye): Sign of protection from evil, for clarity and perception
- Yıldız (Star): Bringer of light and compass for happiness and inner guidance
Together they form a geometric mantra – precise, powerful, and yet delicate.
Colors with a Signal Effect
This kilim combines a vibrant color palette: Brick Red, Rust Orange, Mustard Yellow, Black, Gray-Blue, and Sage Green. The repeated diamond pattern is almost hypnotic and gives even small spaces a strong presence. Ideal as an accent piece or wall hanging.
Craftsmanship & Origin
This piece was made from 100% hand-spun sheep's wool, woven in traditional flatweave technique on a nomad loom. The back shows the meticulousness of the craftsmanship; the fringes are original and intact.
Restored & Ready for New Journeys
This kilim has been carefully restored and cleaned with olive soap and sunlight – ready to accompany you through your spaces, with the strength and beauty of hands long past.
A rug from Wild Heart Free Soul is more than a home textile.
It is a woven talisman – full of memory, symbolism, and time.
AFYON Vintage Kilim 128x92cm
Wild Heart Free Soul
Kastanienallee 55
10119 Berlin
Germany
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- Unique vintage rug - only one piece in stock!
- Material: 100% high-quality, hand-spun sheep's wool
- Craftsmanship: Flat-woven by hand on a traditional wooden loom
- Age: Vintage / Semi-antique. Approx. 1960s
- Condition: Vintage in like-new quality due to extensive cleaning and restoration process
- Origin: Afyon, Anatolia
- Dimensions: 128cm x 92cm, Pile height: 3mm
Anatolian kilims are far more than mere textile utility items – they are woven memories, personal messages, and expressions of lived culture. For generations, women from nomadic tribes and villages wove their wishes, hopes, and stories into the fabric – freely, intuitively, and full of symbolism.
This kilim, too, was woven in an Anatolian home – from the wool of their own sheep, shorn, washed, combed, and hand-spun. The yarns were often dyed with natural pigments from madder, weld, walnut, or indigo – but from the 1950s onwards, synthetic dyes increasingly found their way into the villages. The world became faster, more colourful – not every kilim remained purely vegetable-dyed. Many pieces from the 1960s and 1970s bear the marks of a cultural transition in their colours: between old and new, craftsmanship and modernity.
Weaving was a ritual act – accompanied by songs, stories, silence. Often, several women sat together at the loom: mother, grandmother, sister, neighbour. Every knot, every line, every symbol carried meaning – protection, fertility, connection, strength. Symbols such as the eye (Göz), the cosmic mother (Elibelinde), or the scorpion became carriers of profound messages.
They were used, loved, passed on – and some of them slept for a long time in chests until they resurfaced one day.
Today, we clean and restore these pieces with the utmost respect: washed with olive soap, dried in the Antalya sun, repaired in our Istanbul studio.
Some pieces are with us for only a few months, others accompany us for years – because we rush nothing. Every kilim is restored with time, care, and respect. Some wait for the right restorer, for the summer months to bathe in the sunlight – for their silent transformation back into a living work of art.
A kilim from Wild Heart Free Soul is not a product.
It is a heritage. A woven wish.
And perhaps a companion for your home of tomorrow.
A kilim is a long-lasting companion – if treated with love and cared for mindfully, it can survive many more generations. It doesn't need elaborate care, but above all, the right kind.
We recommend gently vacuuming or beating the kilim once or twice a month to remove dust and dirt. Please do not use a rotating vacuum cleaner, but ideally a brush attachment or a gentle handheld device. Too frequent, intense vacuuming can tire out the fibres in the long run.
Every few months, it's worth turning the kilim over and vacuuming the back as well. If you gently rotate the rug once a year, you ensure even wear and preserve the balance in the weave.
For basic cleaning, we recommend a professional hand wash every 3 to 5 years – with pH-neutral shampoo or olive soap, gently worked in by hand and thoroughly rinsed. Please never put your kilim in dry or steam cleaning – this would damage the fibres. If you need assistance in choosing a suitable cleaner, we will be happy to advise you. We work with experienced oriental rug specialists and are happy to pass on our special conditions.
And if something goes wrong: Dab fresh stains immediately with a clean, dry cloth. If necessary, you can carefully dab with a little olive soap and a slightly damp cloth – without rubbing, without soaking. For stubborn dirt, please consult a specialist directly. Liquid that spreads along the fibres can be permanently trapped, especially in flat weaves.
Dried food residues can usually be carefully scraped off or brushed out – preferably with a steady hand and without haste.