ʻAhuʻula
Feathered cloak
Owned by Kamehameha II
In 1823, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II), his wife Queen Kamāmalu, along with an escort of chiefs and retainers, traveled to England aboard the whaling ship LʻAigle under the command of Captain Valentine Starbuck. This mission of diplomacy was to ensure closer ties between England and the Kingdom of Hawaii. Upon arrival, Hawaiʻi's royal party enjoyed privileged treatment while waiting for their audience with King George IV. After meeting with Parliament, ministers, and attending several gatherings held in their honor, both Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu contracted measles. King George IV sent his personal physician to attend to Hawaiʻi's royal couple to no avail. Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu passed in July of 1824, within a week of one another.
King George IV returned their bodies to Hawaiʻi aboard the HMS Blonde under the command of Captain George Anson Byron. Though the nation was in mourning, the young King Kamehameha III and Queen Regent Ka'ahumanu received Captain Byron and his crew with graciousness, including hosting several feasts.
Among the crewmembers received by Hawai'i's chiefs was the Reverend Andrew Bloxam, the naturalist aboard the HMS Blonde. Queen Regent Kaʻahumanu gifted Bloxam with this esteemed cloak made of red feathers from the red ʻiʻiwi and yellow feathers from the ʻōʻō. In 1825, this ʻahuʻula accompanied Bloxam back to England. After Andrew Bloxam's death, the cloak remained in the Bloxam family until it was purchased by Henry George Lapham, who generously gifted the Bloxam cloak to Bishop Museum in 1928.