ABSTRACT
Victorian-era international exhibitions displayed "nearly all possible and impossible things under the sun," in the words of one English newspaper at the time of London's 1862 International Exhibition. This chapter considers Hawaiian participation at one of the shows at that pivotal time: The International Fisheries Exhibition held in London in 1883. By the time the Fisheries show opened, Hawaiian officials at home and in London were generally pleased with their "suitable" exhibits. A more complete list of participating polities would include regional newcomers on the world stage, such as Meiji Japan, and less powerful sovereign Pacific nations, including the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Hawaiian Kingdom offered antiquity, progress, and universality, the signs that the prominent scientist T. H. Huxley was looking for among exhibiting "modern" nations. In the end, the ephemeral and enduring significance of the Kingdom's contributions at South Kensington would rest with the enthusiasm of common visitors and not solely with the analysis of zoological experts.
