A portrait of a Māori man by renowned New Zealand artist Vera Cummings has sold at auction for NZ$3790 (£1800) after being tucked away in a drawer for six decades.
The portrait was sold in the UK by Richard Winterton Auctioneers and is now set to return to New Zealand after being won by an online bidder.
The 20cm by 15cm signed oil on canvas depicts a man with traditional Māori moko wearing a hei-tiki pendant and, although undated, was probably painted in the 1930s or 1940s.
Vera (Veronica) Cummings was a New Zealand painter who at the age of 11 was one of the youngest-ever students to receive a scholarship to attend Elam School of Fine Arts and studied under renowned portrait artist CF Goldie.
Born in Thames in 1891 to parents of Scottish and Irish descent, the family later moved to Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland.
After graduation, she continued to paint alongside Goldie and frequently depicted the same people, often elderly Māori from a hostel near the Auckland suburb of Parnell.
Her paintings continue to sell well at auction; her work Portrait of a Māori Woman is part of the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
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