Vintage Balikesir kilim - 250 x 175 cm

Balikesir borders the Aegean Sea, and that maritime proximity has always softened the palettes of its weavers, as though the salt air had patinated the colours before they even touched the wool. Across this kilim woven some 60 years ago, five large hexagons chain together along the full length, alternating powdery mauve and sage green, each enclosing a denser medallion in fuchsia pink and ivory, like breaths of colour laid upon an almost desert-like camel ground. Between them, small pink crosses and a few touches of sky blue seem to have captured something of that coastal sky.

A broad border takes up that same pink, in hourglasses this time, supported by cream and pale blue, like a hedge bordering a quiet field facing the sea. A rare palette, soft and assured at once, one that resembles no other.

One of a kind.