Around 1921, Sarper was an aspiring painter who worked worked as an auction secretary. When some Ottoman antiquities from Topkapi Palace came to auction, he served as the official auction secretary, creating the transcript of the auction, including a ram's fleece. When the fleece didn't sell at the auction, he took it home and used the backside as a canvas for a portrait. Eventually, he gave up on his career as an artist, and opened an antique shop, with the portrait hanging in his shop for sale. Eventually he became acquainted with Daan van Rooijen.