Item #303122 [Emma, Queen of Hawaii.] With a clipped signature and date 1865 in her hand. Hawaii, Andreas Avelino Montano.

[Emma, Queen of Hawaii.] With a clipped signature and date 1865 in her hand.

Honolulu: c. 1870.

Price: $2,500.00


About the item

Photograph measuring 3-3/8 x 2-1/4 in. with the ms slip laid down beneath it. Framed and glazed, measuring 9 x 10-1/2 in.

Item #303122

A particularly fine example of Emma's photograph and signature in a contemporary frame. She has signed herself "Emma R / September 26, 1865."

Born in Honolulu in 1836, she was adopted by her maternal aunt, the chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke, and her husband, Dr. Thomas C. B. Rooke. She married Kamehameha IV on 19 June 1856. Emma was an active queen, concerned with palace affairs and was involved in the expansion of the royal library. She is best known for founding the Queen's Hospital in 1860, which was built to care for native Hawaiians who had no immunity to many of the European diseases which they encountered. The hospital exists to this day as Queen's Medical Center. Her philanthropic endeavours set a precedent for sitting queens.

Although unattributed, this image is likely taken by Andreas Montano, the Colombian photographer who came to Hawaii in 1870 and immediately set up a studio at 87 Fort St. He photographed much of Hawaiian royalty and became Emma's official photographer.