(Kamehameha III)

Pen-and-ink and watercolor double portrait drawing of Kamehameha III and his mother, Keopuolani (6  1/4  x 10  1/4 in.; 159 x 260 mm), n.p., c. mid-1820's; some wear.  Matted, glazed and framed (not examined out of frame).

A fine contemporary double portrait of Queen Dowager Keopulani and her son, Kamehameha III.  Keopulani, widow of Kamehameha I, was one of the  first Hawaiian converts to Christianity and was the first person of royal rank to reject polygamy.  Kamehameha III was eleven years old when he was proclaimed king under a regency after the death of his brother, Kamehameha II in England.  His was the longest reign in the history of the Hawaiian monarachy.

The portraits are captioned in ink, "The Queen Dowager of Honolulu Oahu" and "Tamea'meah 3rd King of the Sandwich Islands."