A portrait of a Māori man by a renowned New Zealand artist is heading for auction after spending six decades tucked away in a drawer.

The signed oil on canvas is by Vera Cummings, whose esteemed paintings were among the first to focus on Māori people.

The 20cm by 15cm portrait depicts a man with traditional Māori Ta Moko/face tattoos wearing a hei-tiki pendant.

Although undated, it was probably painted in the 1930s or 1940s and is estimated at £1500 to £2000 in Richard Winterton Auctioneers’ Antiques & Home Sale on March 11.

The canvas was consigned for sale at The Lichfield Auction Centre in Staffordshire, UK, following a valuation in person after an initial enquiry via email from its British owners.

“This is an old heirloom which has been in the family for 60 years, during much of which it has been safely stored in a drawer,” says Senior valuer Sarah Williams.

“Beyond that it passes out of knowledge and it’s unclear where the New Zealand connection might have been.”

David Fergus, pictures valuer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, says Vera Cummings was one of the very first artists to document the Māori people.

“As such this is quite a sought-after painting and it’s likely it will go back to New Zealand.”

Vera (Veronica) Cummings was a New Zealand painter and student of renowned portrait artist CF Goldie.

Born in Thames – a small town on New Zealand’s North Island – in 1891 to parents of Scottish and Irish descent, the family later moved to Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland.

Something of a prodigy, at the age of 11 Cummings was one of the youngest students to receive a scholarship to attend Elam School of Fine Arts and studied under Goldie.

After graduation, she continued to paint alongside Goldie and frequently depicted the same people, often elderly Māori from a hostel near the Aukland suburb of Parnell.

David Fergus from Richard Winterton Auctioneers with the portrait by Vera Cummings.

Cummings herself lived in Parnell near Judges Bay and died in Auckland in 1949, aged 58.

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.

The Māori portrait is Lot 320 in the March 11 Antiques & Home Sale at The Lichfield Auction Centre, starting at 9.30am.

The catalogue can be viewed online at https://bid.richardwinterton.co.uk/auctions/8840/srric10399.