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Statues of past island royalty will soon begin their reign in front of the Kauai Museum in Lihue.
Prototypes of life-sized, bronze statues of the last king and queen of Kauai and Niihau were unveiled in a ceremony Saturday, The Garden Island reported. The museum and archive on the eastern side of Kauai focuses on the indigenous and immigrant people of the two islands.
Kauai residents Billy and Luella Lemn conceived the idea and Billy Lemn produced the drawings of King Kaumualii and Queen Deborah Kapule that were used as a basis for the statues by Chris O’Conner of Kauai. Including O’Conner as the designer was key to the project because he is one of only two artists in the state who creates bronze statues, said museum director Chucky Boy Chock. The prototypes will stand in while O’Conner completes work of the monuments.
Kaumualii (1778-1824) and Kapule (1798-1853) were the last monarchs of Kauai and Niihau before the Kingdom of Hawaii was established by Kamehameha the Great.