The Farah Family Art business Trade and export practices of Antiquities from Syria and Lebanon at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Amoroso, Nicolas;Mathieux, Néguine
(2024) Digging up the Past Aspects of a Multi-Layered Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire from the Late 19th to the Early 20th Century — Location: Online (6.June.2024)

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  • Amoroso, NicolasUCLouvain
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  • Mathieux, Néguine
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Abstract
The second half of the 19th century saw the development of excavations in the Near and Middle East, especially in areas now covered by Syria and Lebanon. Following the archaeological discoveries, many artefacts joined the Ottoman Imperial Museum in Constantinople, while others reached local museums. However, a large number of antiquities have found their way onto the art market and are now on display in European and American museums. Were all these translocations legal at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries? The trade was fostered by many merchants, including the Farah family from Tyre, five of whose members were art dealers. A research conducted in the archives of the Louvre and the Royal Museum of Mariemont made possible to trace the pathways of antiquities sold by the Farah. This is the case of a Roman lead sarcophagus from Sidon: the correspondence between Ferdinand Farah and Franz Cumont reveals that this artefact was cut in parts to be smuggled out Lebanon before moving to the port of Marseille during summer 1903. It was then bought by the Belgian industrialist Raoul Warocqué, the founder of Mariemont’s collections. Is this an “exceptional” translocation history? The issue arises in relation to other antiquities from today’s Syria and Lebanon (now in Mariemont and in the Louvre) which have passed through the hands of the Farah family. Our contribution aims at exploring the art market mechanisms of this period, focusing on these actors and their methods. It will enable us to connect these artefacts with others that have experienced the same pathway.
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Amoroso, N., & Mathieux, N. (2024). The Farah Family Art business Trade and export practices of Antiquities from Syria and Lebanon at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Digging up the Past Aspects of a Multi-Layered Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire from the Late 19th to the Early 20th Century, Online. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/217892