Getty Museum

Portrait of Queen Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili of Hawaii

Date

about 1853–1854

Medium

Daguerreotype, hand-colored

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili (about 1817 – September 20, 1870), whose first name translates to “Light or Torch,” became the queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawai’i when she married King Kamehameha III (1814-1854) on February 14, 1837. Their love marriage upset many, as Kalama was not considered an appropriate match for the monarch. After losing two children in infancy, the royal couple adopted their nephew Alexander Liholiho (1834-1863), who would inherit the throne in 1854. They also adopted a daughter, Ka’imina’auao (1845-1848), and another son, Albert Kuka’ilmoko Kuniakea (1851-1903). Queen Kalama outlived both her husband, Kamehameha III, and her son, Kamehameha IV. She became an adept business woman, eventually owning 22,000 acres on the windward side of Oahu, where she established a sugar plantation. A beach there in Kailua now bears her name. [In a portrait of an older Kalama](https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.80.51?destination=node/63231%3Fedan_q%3Dqueen%2520kalama), who by then was the queen dowager, she holds an even stronger, more confident pose than she did in the Getty portrait. This daguerreotype has been attributed to [Dr. Hugo Stangenwald](https://hmha.missionhouses.org/items/show/11696), an American photographer who moved to Hawai’i and set up a studio in 1853. He photographed the royal family and [their palace](https://hmha.missionhouses.org/items/show/3255) as well as what is purported to be the [first photograph](https://hmha.missionhouses.org/items/show/4353) (see also [https://www.usgs.gov/center-news](https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/volcano-watch-when-were-first-photographs-k-lauea-volcano-taken)) of the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai’i in 1855. Another daguerreotype of the king and queen by Stangenwald can be found in the Bishop Museum’s collection in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Because, the queen wears the same dress, jewelry, and hairstyle in both images, it was likely made during the same sitting. The National Portrait Gallery also owns a [Stangenwald portrait](https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2014.71?destination=node/63231%3Fedan_q%3Dqueen%2520kalama) of the royal couple along with their two sons and the crown princess Victoria (1838-1866). Measuring just 1-3/8 x 1-5/8 inches (3.5 x 4 cm), the Getty image is a sixteenth plate, the smallest of the standard sizes of daguerreotypes. The hand-painted gold accents on Queen Kalama’s earrings and necklaces would have added to the expense and luxury of the daguerreotype. Carolyn Peter, J. Paul Getty Museum, Department of Photographs, 2021

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