VAN Vintage Kilim 249x141cm

• Unique Vintage Rug - only one available!
• Material: 100% high-quality, hand-spun sheep wool
• Workmanship: Hand flat-woven on a traditional wooden loom
• Age: Vintage / Semi-antique. Circa 1960s
• Condition: Vintage in like-new quality due to extensive cleaning and restoration process
• Origin: Van, Anatolia
• Dimensions: 249cm x 141cm, Height: 3mm

Anatolian kilims are far more than textile utility items – they are woven memories, personal messages, and expressions of a lived culture. For generations, women from nomadic tribes and villages wove their wishes, hopes, and stories into the fabric – freely, intuitively, and full of symbolic power.

This kilim was also woven in an Anatolian home – from the wool of their own sheep, shorn, washed, carded, 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 vegetable-dyed. Many pieces from the 1960s and 1970s bear in their shades the traces of a cultural transition: 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 like the eye (Göz), the cosmic mother (Elibelinde) or the scorpion became carriers of deep messages.

They were used, loved, passed down – and some of them slept long in chests until they saw the light of day again.

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 don't rush anything. Each kilim is restored with time, care, and respect. Some wait for the right restorer, for the summer months, to bask in the sunlight – for their quiet 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 attentively, it can outlast many more generations. It doesn't require elaborate care, but above all, the right kind of care.

We recommend gently vacuuming or shaking out your kilim once or twice a month to remove dust and dirt. Please do not use a rotating vacuum cleaner for this; ideally, use a brush attachment or a gentle handheld device. Too frequent, intensive vacuuming can eventually wear out the fibers.

Every few months, it's worthwhile to turn the kilim over and vacuum the back side as well. Rotating the rug slightly once a year ensures even wear and maintains the balance in the weave.

For a thorough 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 out. 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 are 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, 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 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.