Managing director of the Art and Object gallery Hamish Coney told the Herald he had been sent screenshots of the dark web listing this week and he didn't really know what to make of it.
"If its genuine then I am pleased that it may still be in existence, but where it is and who's got it is the question."
"The fact that this particular item, which is New Zealand art taonga, should appear on the dark web is probably an indication that it's not kosher, it's dodgy, it's not right, and all of the things that you would assume via common sense probably apply here," Coney said.
"The image sent to me was literally a thumbnail size, so for me to draw any conclusions from what I have seen is not possible, whether its an image of the artwork in possession of someone who now has it – that I can't answer."
Thieves ram-raided the gallery in April and stole the 1884 paintings Chieftainess Ngatai-Raure and Chief Ngatai-Raure.
Police said at the time they believed three people were involved in the brazen heist.