New Jersey family repatriates rare artifacts to Philadelphia’s Mexican Consulate

In a repatriation ceremony at the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia on Wednesday, a collection of culturally significant archaeological pieces — some going back almost 2,500 years — was returned to the Mexican people by the family of a private collector.

“The 22 pieces before you today are recognized as movable archaeological monuments … and the property of the Mexican nation,” said Carlos Obrador, head consul of Mexico in Philadelphia, at Wednesday’s ceremony.

The clay objects, ranging from anthropomorphic figures to vases and other vessels, date from about 400 B.C. to 1521 A.D., said Obrador. Their authenticity was established by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. Some of the oldest pieces, the official said, came from the part of Mexico that is now Puebla, homeland of origin of many Mexican Philadelphians.

Signing over the artifacts at the ceremony was Sydelle Landau, 78, of Fort Lee, N.J., the widow of Leonard Landau, a businessman and World War II veteran who owned the collection.

“I’m glad it’s going back where it belongs, and [Leonard] would be very happy,” said Landau, who decided to give the objects to the Mexican Cultural Center affiliated with the Consulate after her husband died at age 102 in 2023.

According to the widow, Landau traveled to Mexico often for business in the 1950s and 1960s.

“He imported twine,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Consul of Mexico in Philadelphia said that Landau acquired the pieces on his travels through the Yucatán peninsula and the state of Guerrero, thinking them to be cultural art. Sydelle Landau said the couple displayed the pieces in their living room.

“He always loved having them there and looking at them,” she said.

Araceli Guenther, president of the board of the Mexican Cultural Center, called the donation of the artifacts “one of the biggest things that have happened to the Mexican Cultural Center since its inception in 1994.”

Obrador said the artifacts will be sent to Mexico, where they will be displayed in museums or other institutions to be seen and appreciated. He said the current administration in Mexico has made the “rematriation” of objects like the artifacts a priority. They have been working with other governments to obtain these objects including those that have been stolen or illegally acquired.

So far, he said the strategy has brought about 13,435 heritage pieces back to Mexico from around the world, particularly from the United States, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy.

“It makes us feel very proud and very happy that we are now able to send [the artifacts] back where they belong,” Guenther said. “I think the country of Mexico will enjoy them for many, many generations.”