Leonardo Patterson (born c. 1942) is a controversial antiquities dealer who specialises in

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

artefacts. He was born to Jamaican parents and was raised in

Cahuita Cahuita is a district of the Talamanca canton, in the Limón province of Costa Rica. It is located on the Caribbean coast. History Cahuita was created on 19 February 1970 by Decreto Ejecutivo 13. Geography Cahuita has an area of km² and an ...

, Costa Rica. Patterson started work as an apprentice jeweller, moving on to work as an antiquities middle-man as he gained exposure to a wider range of objects, and graduating to the role of international dealer and collector.An antiquities legend in an 'intrinsically lawless' field
by Alexandra Olson and Patrick McGroarty,

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, 9 November 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2013. Patterson began to deal on a large scale in New York in the 1960s and 1970s when restrictions on the trade in antiquities were loose. In the 1970s, restrictions were tightened on the export of

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

artefacts as more countries took an interest in what was happening to their cultural heritage and in 1983 the United States signed a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

convention on the illegal export of cultural property. In 1980 Patterson was involved in a multi-million dollar Australian tax avoidance scheme concerning a collection of unprovenanced Mesoamerican antiquities that were donated to the National Gallery of Victoria. In 1984Leonardo Patterson
Cultural Heritage Resource, Stanford Archaeology Center, 20 October 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2013. Patterson was charged by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

with attempting to sell a fake Maya

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

to an art dealer and Patterson was sentenced to probation. In 1985 he was convicted of importing the eggs of

endangered sea turtles Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles a year are accidentally caught in shrimp trawl nets, on longline hooks and in fishing gill-nets. Sea turtles need to reach the surface to breathe, and therefore many drown once caught. Loggerhead an ...

into the United States. In 1995 he was appointed a cultural attaché to the United Nations, before questions about his past caused him to resign and he began to spend more time in Europe, particularly in Germany. A number of legal cases have followed including the return of items to Mexico and Peru, notably a gold Moche headdress in the form of an octopus recovered with the help of Michel van Rijn.Spain returns pre-Columbian artifacts from Patterson Collection to Peru
in ''Peruvian Times'', 27 October 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2013.

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* ttp://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=37492&int_modo=2#.UhqTexukqxV Over 250 Pieces of the Leonardo Patterson Affair are a Sham.br>El Manatí Wooden Olmec Busts.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Leonardo American art dealers 1942 births Living people People from Limón Province

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