This oil painting on canvas measuring 355mm x 455mm was bought by my father at an aution sale in Bayview near Napier in the late 1930s for two shillings and sixpence. The painting is signed N Kirkham (see below).
The only thing known about the painting was that there exists an identical portrait by C.F. Goldie dated 1901. Nothing was known or could be found about the artist.
In 1977 while working in the savings bank branch of Papatoetoe Post Office I was called to assist a customer who had the same surname as the above artist.
I asked him if he knew of any artist named Kirkham and told him that I had an oil painting signed by such a person. His reply astounded me.
Without hesitation he described my painting to me and said it was painted by his sister at Petane (near Bayview) who died in 1918. He went on to say his sister had made about a dozen paintings during her life time and that he had them all except the one I had.
A few days later I moved on from Papatoetoe and have not had contact with Mr Kirkham since.
I believe the artist may have been a student of C.F. Goldie and that the above portrait is a copy of Goldies identical painting dated 1901.
This page created by P.J. Lawton, 26 October 2007.