IDNO

P.99040.GCUM

Description

Half-length seated studio portrait of King David Laamea Kalakaua of Hawaii (b. 1836 - d. 1891), wearing a European-style military jacket adorned with five stars of probably Royal Orders, gold braid, a sash, and the hilt of probably a ceremonial sword. [JD 09/03/2021]

Place

Oceania Polynesia; N America; United States of America; Hawaii

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

King David Laamea Kalakaua of Hawaii (b. 1836 - d. 1891)

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

?Gordon Cumming, Constance Frederica

Date

circa ?1879

Collection Name

Gordon Cumming Collection

Source

Gordon Cumming, Constance Frederica

Format

Cabinet Card

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This album has been transferred from CUMMA’s Object Collections (original accession number Z 4152), into the Photographic Collections, and catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Program One.

P.98869.GCUM to P.99045.GCUM are in A.169.GCUM.

Biographical Information: “King David Kalakaua
Born: November 16, 1836
Died: January 20, 1891
Ruled: February 12, 1874 - January 20, 1891
Wife: Queen Kapiolani
When King Lunalilo died after only a year as king, the Hawaiian legislature considered appointing Dowager Queen Emma as the new ruler of Hawaii, but they ended up selecting David Kalakaua, a descendant of King Kamehameha I, instead. Queen Emma and her supporters were not pleased with the choice, because they felt she felt her lineage was more royal then Kalakaua's. There was a riot which had to be quelled by the British Marines.
Kalakaua traveled to Washington DC in 1874 to negotiate a reciprocal trade agreement. He also tried to increase the power of the Hawaiian monarchy, which angered many foreigners, who intimidated Kalakaua into accepting a new constitution, known as the Bayonet Consititution. That consitition stripped the king of power, and gave foreigners the right to vote in Hawaiian elections.
In 1889 a man named Robert Wilcox led a revolt against the new constitution. The uprising was put down, but be became a hero to Native Hawaiians. At conspiracy trial he was found not guilty by an all-Hawaiian jury.
Kalakaua was accused of spending a great deal of money to live like European Royalty. He and his wife Queen Kapiolani traveled a great deal of the time, and when he was away, his sister Princess Liliuokalani ruled as regent.
King Kalakaua died of kidney disease in 1891, while he was visiting San Francisco.” [Source: Hawaii Travel, www.hawaiitravelnewsletter.com, JD 23/5/2008]