NEW YORK, NY.- Arte Primitivo, a gallery specializing in Pre-Columbian Art, Classical and Egyptian Antiquities, Asian Antiquities and Antiques and Ethnographic Art in New York City, NY, is proud to announce its latest online absentee auction - Fine Pre-Columbian and Tribal Art, Classical and Asian Antiquities – featuring more than 600 lots of authentic examples from around the world.

Arte Primitivo’s absentee bidding format allows bidders to register and then place bids at their own pace right up until each auction’s unique closing time. Everything in the auction is an authentic, quality item. All art has been legally acquired and is legal to sell. All auction lots can be viewed online or by visiting the gallery now through March 13, 2012.

The first part of Arte Primitivo’s March 13 auction features a fine selection of Pre-Columbian Art from West Mexico, the Mayan territories and most of the major cultures of ancient Peru, Costa Rica and Panama. You’ll browse amazing jewelry, ceramics, stone, textiles and 60 lots of amazing ancient Pre-Columbian gold, including several Calima Gold Crowns from the collection of Fred Leighton and Alexander Acevedo, New York. Also featured are numerous artifacts from the Lucia Meza Collection of Pre-Columbian art, including a large 2200 year old ceramic statue of a Jalisco Ball Player (ball players were an important part of Meso-American rituals, the first evidence of ancient ball players dates to 1700 B.C.E.).

Beginning at Lot 62, twenty two lots of authentic Tribal and Ethnographic Art are presented, followed by a grouping of Asian Antiquities, including Han and Ming Dynasty terracotta’s, as well as art from India, Nepal, Thailand and Java.

The variety of ancient art continues with a quality selection of Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities. A notable highlight in this category is the published 2100 year old Egyptian Bronze Staff of the God Harpokrates (the original god-king of Egypt, who had been murdered by his brother Set and thus became the god of the underworld). An amazing example with superb provenance, Ex-Wilhelm Horn (1870-1959) Berlin, acquired in Cairo, 1938, ex-Christies, Ex-Royal Athena Galleries. And in the Greek category, some highlights include an Apulian Red-Figure Painted Pelike and a Gnathian Deer Pelike, both from an old, established FL collection acquired in the 1960s.

Another notable highlight from the sale is a 2000 year old Judaic Limestone Ossuary from the prominent collection of Daniel M. Friedenberg and currently in the collection of Walter Knox of Scottsdale, AZ. A nearly exact ossuary, with the same decoration, was recently researched by documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, co-author of the new book The Jesus Discover. During a press conference, Jacobovici and co-author James Tabor, a biblical scholar, showed replicas of ossuaries (bone boxes) they examined using a special fiber optic robotic camera in a Jerusalem tomb. The boxes have etchings that the researchers believe may be early Christian symbols. A film about the discovery of these Ossuaries will air on the Discovery Channel in spring 2012.

The catalog for Arte Primitivo’s March 3rd online auction can be viewed at the company’s website: www.ArtePrimitivo.com. For questions about any item in the sale, contact the gallery via email or phone. If you’re in New York City, Howard Rose, the owner of the gallery, invites you to visit in-person, no appointment needed. A printed copy of the current auction Catalog is available upon request through the website or by calling the gallery direct (212) 570-6999.