A prized miniature portrait painted by Charlotte Bronte and described as a “little gem” was snapped up by the Bronte Society for £30,000 before it could be auctioned and possibly gone to a foreign buyer.

The Society bought the 2.5ins tall painting shortly before a scheduled public sale by London art dealers Christie’s, with the help of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Art Fund.

The distinctive sitter for the portrait is Mrs Hudson, of Easton Farm, Bridlington, referred to by Charlotte in a letter to her friend Ellen Nussey in 1839.

The portrait was given to Mrs Hudson by Charlotte and remained in the family, being passed on first to Mrs Hudson’s niece, Fanny Whipp, who, in turn, left it to her son. In 1895 the tiny painting went missing, and nothing more was heard of it for more than 100 years.

It was feared lost until it appeared in a sale in 2001 where it was acquired by the late Mrs T. S. Eliot, a major collector of miniatures.

It will now return to Haworth to go on public display for the first time at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, the family’s home.

Sally McDonald, chairman of the Bronte Society Council, said: “The Bronte Society is delighted to be bringing the item back to the Parsonage. “We would like to thank all those whose generosity has made the return of the miniature possible,” she said.

Professor Ann Sumner, executive director of the Bronte Society, said: “We are thrilled to have acquired this significant and very fine example of Charlotte Bronte’s miniature painting. The portrait will next year be on show in a new display on The Brontes and the Railways.”

Experts say the present miniature is a rare example of portraiture in Charlotte’s artistic catalogue.

Although she dedicated herself to drawing, and had hopes early on of becoming a professional artist and miniature painter, Charlotte’s skills are said to have been in copying and imitating landscapes, not portraits.

The acquisition of the miniature will be celebrated tomorrow at 2pm with a lecture on Victorian Miniatures by Prof Sumner at the West Lane Baptist Centre, Haworth. Tickets cost £5 and can be booked from Louisa Briggs on (01535) 640188 or louisa.briggs@ bronte.org.uk.