DENIZLI Vintage Kilim 125x80cm
Small Prayer Kilim from Denizli Province
This hand-woven vintage kilim was created in a village in the Western Anatolian region of Denizli – as a personal companion for prayer, stillness, and contemplation. Made in the 1960s, from sheep’s wool on a cotton warp, it expresses lived tradition and inner alignment. Its small format, fine colors, and deep symbolism make it a quiet work of art for soulful spaces.
Symbolism & Interpretation
This kilim bears symbols with deep meaning:
- Yıldız (Star): Light, guidance, inner destiny
- Göz (Eye): Protection, mindfulness, perception
- Çengel (Hook): Connection, balance, equilibrium
- Su Yolu (Watercourse): Change, fluidity, letting go
- İm (Signature): Origin, identity, personal signature of the weaver
Woven messages – powerful, protective, reminiscent.
Colors in soft pastel shades
The color world of this kilim appears woven from light and silence:
- Apricot Orange: Warm and luminous – like late summer light on adobe walls
- Saffron Yellow: Sun-drenched, spicy, and clear – a vibrant hue
- Lavender Pink: Delicate and calm – like faded blossoms in the evening light
- Blue-Gray: Cool and balancing – like a distant horizon after rain
- Brick Brown: Earth-bound and grounded – a foundation of time and memory
- Natural White: Untreated wool – pure, raw, full of authenticity
A finely nuanced dialogue of warmth, depth, and clarity.
For Small Places of Contemplation
With its dimensions of 125 × 80 cm, this kilim is ideal for quiet niches, altars, entryways, or as a wall hanging. It brings silent presence, textile poetry, and a palpable connection to Anatolian weaving tradition into any room.
Restored & Sun-Cleaned
Like all our pieces, this textile work of art from Wild Heart Free Soul has been carefully restored and naturally cleaned with the power of the sun. This preserves its history – and its vibrant aura.
DENIZLI Vintage Kilim 125x80cm
Wild Heart Free Soul
Kastanienallee 55
10119 Berlin
Germany
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- Unique – only one ever made and available
- Origin: Village in Denizli Province, Western Anatolia
- Era: Vintage / approx. 1960s
- Material: 100% hand-spun sheep wool (Warp: cotton)
- Technique: Flat woven with intricate symbolism
- Condition: Carefully restored, excellent vintage quality
- Dimensions: 125 cm × 80 cm | Height: approx. 3 mm
Anatolian kilims are far more than mere textile objects – they are woven memories, personal messages, and an expression of a living 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 was also 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 colorful – not every kilim remained purely plant-dyed. Many pieces from the 1960s and 1970s bear the traces of a cultural transition in their hues: 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, neighbor. 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 bearers of deep messages.
They were used, loved, passed down – and some of them slept for a long time in chests until they reappeared 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 conscientiously, it can survive many more generations. It doesn't require elaborate care, but above all, the right kind of care.
We recommend gently vacuuming or shaking out the kilim once or twice a month to remove dust and dirt. Please do not use a rotating vacuum cleaner for this; instead, ideally use a brush attachment or a gentle handheld device. Too frequent, intense vacuuming can tire out the fibers in the long run.
Every few months, it's worth turning the kilim over and vacuuming the back as well. If you slightly rotate the rug once a year, you ensure even wear and maintain the balance in the weave.
For basic cleaning, we recommend professional hand washing 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 cleaning or steam cleaning – this would damage the fibers. 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 an accident does happen: Dab fresh stains immediately with a clean, dry cloth. If necessary, carefully dab with a little olive soap and a slightly damp cloth – without rubbing, without saturating. For stubborn dirt, please consult a professional directly. Liquid that spreads along the fibers can become permanently trapped, especially in flat weaves.
Dried food residues can usually be carefully scraped off or brushed out – ideally with a steady hand and without haste.