Kamehameha Statue, Bronze statue in downtown Honolulu, US.
The Kamehameha Statue is an oversized cast-brass figure of King Kamehameha I, finished with a dark brown chemical patina and gilded garments, standing in front of Aliʻiōlani Hale in Honolulu. Four partial-gilt bas-relief panels decorate the sides of its plinth, each showing a scene from the king's life, including his 1778 meeting with Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution off Lahaina.
The idea for the statue began in 1878, when legislator Walter M. Gibson proposed a sculpture marking the centennial of Captain James Cook's arrival in the islands. Thomas Ridgeway Gould's full-size plaster model was cast in brass at the Barbedienne Foundry in Paris, but that first shipment sank near the Falkland Islands. A replacement cast, paid for with about $12,000 in insurance money, reached Honolulu in January 1883 and was unveiled during King David Kalākaua's coronation ceremonies that February.
Each year on Kamehameha Day, 11 June, the statue is ceremonially draped in long flower lei honouring the monarch who unified the islands and founded the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810. The image also appears on the state seal and in the logo of Kamehameha Schools, and small reproductions are sold as souvenirs in Honolulu shops.
The monument sits on King Street in downtown Honolulu and is accessible year-round without any admission fee or advance booking needed. The location is easy to reach on foot and tends to be busier during local holidays and celebrations.
The four gilt bas-relief panels on the plinth were paid for with $4,000 from the insurance settlement after the first cast sank near the Falkland Islands. Gould died of a heart attack in 1881 after finishing only the first maquette; his son Marshall completed the other three.
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