Albumen photograph on mount
16 x 20 in including mat; image 6 3/4 x 9 in
40.6 x 50.8 cm including mat; image 17.1 x 22.9 cm
Provenance: John Dominis Holt, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
This 1880s albumen photograph by J.A. Gonsalves shows ʻIoane ʻŪkēkē with members of King Kalākaua’s hula troupe. ʻŪkēkē is identified as a royal hula instructor associated with the Kalākaua court, placing the image within the late nineteenth-century revival of Hawaiian performance and cultural practice. The group is presented in a formal studio arrangement, with lei, feathered adornment, and theatrical dress visible throughout the composition.
The photograph is closely connected to Hawaiian royal history, hula, and the visual record of performance during the Kalākaua era. Albumen photographs of Hawaiian cultural subjects from this period are valued as historical documents and as early photographic records of Indigenous Pacific life. The John Dominis Holt provenance further connects the work to a significant Honolulu literary and collecting lineage.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand
Albumen photograph on mount
16 x 20 in including mat; image 6 3/4 x 9 in
40.6 x 50.8 cm including mat; image 17.1 x 22.9 cm
Provenance: John Dominis Holt, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
This 1880s albumen photograph by J.A. Gonsalves shows ʻIoane ʻŪkēkē with members of King Kalākaua’s hula troupe. ʻŪkēkē is identified as a royal hula instructor associated with the Kalākaua court, placing the image within the late nineteenth-century revival of Hawaiian performance and cultural practice. The group is presented in a formal studio arrangement, with lei, feathered adornment, and theatrical dress visible throughout the composition.
The photograph is closely connected to Hawaiian royal history, hula, and the visual record of performance during the Kalākaua era. Albumen photographs of Hawaiian cultural subjects from this period are valued as historical documents and as early photographic records of Indigenous Pacific life. The John Dominis Holt provenance further connects the work to a significant Honolulu literary and collecting lineage.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand
