Asfar & Sarkis

Sometime during 1907-1927, the remaining fragments of the mosaic floor under the mudir’s home were lifted and sent to Damascus, Syria. Dr. Hetty Joyce, an art historian who specializes in Classical Archaeology, assumes a dealer restored and reconstructed these mosaics and made them more saleable. Sarah E. Boehme, Ph.D., curator for the Stark Museum of Art identified this dealer as Asfar & Sarkis, While travelling overseas, Mr. H.J. Lutcher Stark (1887-1965), an industrialist and philanthropist from Orange, Texas, met with Asfar & Sarkis in Damascus in 1927. The business of Asfar & Sarkis was conducted in the “Sarkis Palace” which simultaneously served as a family home. In this home, the dealers would entertain foreign clients such as Mr. Stark, and market their wares. Mr. Stark purchased ten mosaics from Asfar & Sarkis and brought these mosaics, including the fragment of Terpsichore back to Orange, Texas.  

Text Sources:

Boehme, Sarah, email message to author, March 27, 2014.

Joyce, Hetty. “A Mosaic from Gerasa in Orange, Texas and Berlin.” Mitteilungen des Deutchen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung 87, no.2 (1980): 307-325.

Shangri La Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures. “Damascus Room.” Accessed March 29, 2014. http://shangrilahawaii.org/Islamic-Art-Collection/Collection-Highlights/Late-Ottoman-Syrian-interiors-and-furnishings/Damascus-Room/.  

Image Source

The image comes from the Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA). The original source:Margoliouth, David Samuel. "Cairo, Jerusalem, & Damascus: three chief cities of the Egyptian Sultans". With illus. in colour by W.S.S. Tyrwhitt, and additional playes by Reginald Barratt. Chatto and Windus: London, 1907. p 230, accessed March 16, 2014.