CAL Vintage Kilim 260x82cm

Anatolian, flat-woven kilim rug made of hand-spun sheep's wool. Unique vintage piece with collector's value!

Selected by Wild Heart Free Soul to the highest quality standards, naturally cleaned with the power of the sun and professionally restored.

Age-related patina and natural irregularities are characteristic of our handmade vintage rugs.

• Material: 100% hand-spun sheep's wool, highest quality
• Craftsmanship: Flat-woven by hand on a traditional, horizontal wooden loom
• Age: Semi-Antique. Approx. 1960-1970
• Condition: Vintage in mint condition due to elaborate cleaning and restoration process
• Origin: Cal, Anatolia
• Size: 260 x 82cm, Height: 3 mm

Anatolian kilims are far more than mere textile utilitarian objects – they are woven memories, personal messages, and an expression 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 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 colourful – not every kilim remained purely vegetable-dyed. Many pieces from the 1960s and 1970s carry in their tones the traces of a cultural transition: between old and new, craft 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 bearers of deep messages.

They were used, loved, passed down – and some of them slept long in chests until one day they reappeared.

Today, we clean and restore these pieces with the greatest respect: washed with olive soap, dried in the sun of Antalya, 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 re-transformation into a living work of art.

A kilim from Wild Heart Free Soul is not a product.
It is a legacy. 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 outlast many more generations. It doesn't require elaborate care, but rather the right kind.

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, 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 lightly rotate the rug once a year, it ensures even wear and maintains 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 cleaning or steam cleaning – this would damage the fibres. 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 professional directly. Liquid that spreads along the fibres can become 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.