Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1907 - d. 1979

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      • Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah (b. Terengganu, 1907 - d. 1979) Silat, By The Sea, c.1955
        Mar. 15, 2020

        Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah (b. Terengganu, 1907 - d. 1979) Silat, By The Sea, c.1955

        Est: RM4,000 - RM7,000

        At a time when there was no television, even black and white, such spectacle of silat combat drew large crowds among the rural folks, with many treating it like a picnic and family gathering. Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah managed to capture one such friendly fight demonstration from a distance, against the shady casuarina trees of Batu Burok beach in Terengganu. He seemed to be incognito, preferring the anonymity to hone his photography craft rather than to let the rakyat fuss over him providing him a royal seat complete with an ice-cream umbrella for shade. A few foldable chairs are available with some spectators preferring to sit cross-legged on the sand, while others formed an arc at the back. The subject is silat, and this precedes Ismail Mustam’s The Last Duel (1961) and Amron Omar’s copious works of silat pugilistic stances, from the 1980s. This work was featured on Page 74 in the book HRH Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Pioneering Malaysian Photography 1923-1971, written by his grandson Raja Mohd Zainol Ihsan Shah, who is vested with the archive and collection of his works. He remembers his grandfather’s darkroom where film negatives and photographic papers were stored in airtight glass jars and glass cabinets, in controlled temperature. Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (September 21, 1965 - September 21, 1970), was installed the 14th Sultan of Terengganu on December 16, 1945. Sultan Ismail, who was an avid photographer since the 1930s, died on September 20, 1979.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah (b. 1907 - d. 1979) MAY ‘69 - KL BERKURONG, 1969
        Nov. 03, 2019

        Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah (b. 1907 - d. 1979) MAY ‘69 - KL BERKURONG, 1969

        Est: RM5,000 - RM8,000

        This picture of a deserted Kuala Lumpur street in May 1969 after the outbreak of internecine racial strife brings back searing memories of the blackest mark in Malaysian history. The photograph was taken by Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, who was the 4th Yang diPertuan Agong (Sept 21, 1965 to Sept 21, 1970). Sultan Ismail (an avid photographer since the 1930s) went around taking photographs of the city, with only a small escort. When the prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman came to know about this, he insisted Sultan Ismail to stay inside the Istana Negara precincts, for better security. “My grandfather had erstwhile chose to stay in the kampung-like setting of Istana Terengganu at 34, Jalan Kia Peng and commute to Istana Negara on a daily basis,” said Raja Ihsan, the grandson of Sultan Ismail. He recalled that he was nine years old then, and May 14 was to be his birthday party at Istana Negara, but his grandfather had used up all the films in the camera shooting an ‘empty’ Kuala Lumpur instead. The original photographs in gelatin silver prints on fibre-based photographic paper were in limited edition of 5.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • SULTAN ISMAIL NASIRUDDIN SHAH (b. 1907 - d. 1979) SAMPAN, SUNGAI TERSAT; BATHERS, 1955; 1954, Gelatin silver print (edition of 3), printed 1997
        Apr. 29, 2018

        SULTAN ISMAIL NASIRUDDIN SHAH (b. 1907 - d. 1979) SAMPAN, SUNGAI TERSAT; BATHERS, 1955; 1954, Gelatin silver print (edition of 3), printed 1997

        Est: RM5,000 - RM8,000

        Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah is one of the great pioneers of Malaysian photography like Wong Kou Fou, who brought the tribes people in the deep interiors of Sarawak to the world. Similarly, Sultan Ismail and his ethnographic photographs on the lives of the ordinary people in the rural areas including riverine settlements. According to his grandson, Raja Ihsan Shah, the custodian of the Sultan's rich photographic legacy: "The two prints were shot from a raft in Sungai Tersat. Sultan Ismail was a regular sight at Sungai Tersat, where he would travel slowly downriver on a raft to take pictures of the life on the bankside." That was in the 1950s. Being royalty, he could easily have taken a royal barge but he was always close to his subjects and when camera in hand, would shun the urban centre or even his royal court. His favourite hunting ground were Kuala Ibai, Pasar Tepoh, Chendering, Rusila and Pantai Batu Buruk. Later in the 1970s, the Sultan would take a speedboat to save time, and would stop occasionally to take pictures if he found anything interesting. Said Raja Ihsan: "He had a capacity of observing people and an unrelenting curiosity besides a compositional sense, which was refreshing for his time." Wrote Tom Harrison and H. Spender in the Mass Observation research: "The observer or photographer must shed his preconceptions about what is good to observe and what is bad to observe; and shed all habitual frames of reference which may inhibit fresh observation and obscure the unexpected." A print of this image (edition of 3) was exhibited at the Galeri Petronas Images Of Terengganu exhibition in 1997, the Notices Gallery in Singapore in 1997, and the Terengganu State Museum exhibition in 1999.Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah was the fourth King of Malaysia, from 1965 to 1970, and the 14th Sultan of Terengganu from 1946 to 1979. He received his first camera, presumably a Kodak Brownie, when he was 16 in 1923. He was one of the few photographers listed in Photographer Webster's Timeline History 1880-1989. He became an associate of Britain's Royal Photographic Society in 1957 and won the prestigious Excellence Federation International d' Art Photographique (based in Switzerland) in 1966.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • SULTAN ISMAIL NASIRUDDIN SHAH (b. 1907 - d. 1979) MAY ‘69 - KL BERKURONG, 1969
        Apr. 23, 2017

        SULTAN ISMAIL NASIRUDDIN SHAH (b. 1907 - d. 1979) MAY ‘69 - KL BERKURONG, 1969

        Est: RM4,000 - RM6,000

        These two pictures of deserted Kuala Lumpur streets in May 1969 after the outbreak of internecine racial strife brings back searing memories of the blackest mark in Malaysian history, yet they are timely reminders not to raise the May 13 spectre again.The photographs were taken at two spots, namely, 1) Jalan Bukit Bintang with the Cathay Cinema (showing a Mandarin film, Young Love), the Malayan Hotel and the Seagull Chinese medicine shop opposite; and 2) the Jalan Tun Perak (previously Jalan Mountbatten) intersection.The photographs were taken by Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, who was the 4th Yang diPertuan Agong (Sept 21, 1965-Sept 21, 1970). He was installed the 14th Sultan of Terengganu on Dec 16, 1945. Sultan Ismail, who was an avid photographer since the 1930s, died on Sept 20, 1979. There are more to the “bleak” pictures as Tuanku Ismail’s grandson, Raja Mohd Zainol Ihsan Shah, a prominent art-dealer and custodian of Tuanku Ismail’s photography archive, found out fairly recently, from a former butler, who is now in his 70s.“My grandfather originally titled the works, Kuala Lumpur Masa Berkurong (after the old spelling). He went around taking photographs of the city, with only a small escort. When the prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman came to know about this, he insisted my grandfather stay inside the Istana Negara precincts, for better security.“My grandfather had erstwhile chose to stay in the kampung-like setting of Istana Terengganu at 34 Jalan Kia Peng and commute to Istana Negara on a daily basis,” said Raja Ihsan.He recalled that he was nine then, and May 14 was to be his birthday party at Istana Negara, but his grandfather had used up all the films in the camera shooting an ‘empty’ Kuala Lumpur instead. The original photographs in gelatin silver prints on fibre-based photographic paper were in limited editions of 5 each.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • SULTAN ISMAIL NASIRUDDIN SHAH (b. 1907 - d. 1979) MAY ‘69 - KL BERKURONG, 1969
        Apr. 23, 2017

        SULTAN ISMAIL NASIRUDDIN SHAH (b. 1907 - d. 1979) MAY ‘69 - KL BERKURONG, 1969

        Est: RM4,000 - RM6,000

        These two pictures of deserted Kuala Lumpur streets in May 1969 after the outbreak of internecine racial strife brings back searing memories of the blackest mark in Malaysian history, yet they are timely reminders not to raise the May 13 spectre again.The photographs were taken at two spots, namely, 1) Jalan Bukit Bintang with the Cathay Cinema (showing a Mandarin film, Young Love), the Malayan Hotel and the Seagull Chinese medicine shop opposite; and 2) the Jalan Tun Perak (previously Jalan Mountbatten) intersection.The photographs were taken by Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, who was the 4th Yang diPertuan Agong (Sept 21, 1965-Sept 21, 1970). He was installed the 14th Sultan of Terengganu on Dec 16, 1945. Sultan Ismail, who was an avid photographer since the 1930s, died on Sept 20, 1979. There are more to the “bleak” pictures as Tuanku Ismail’s grandson, Raja Mohd Zainol Ihsan Shah, a prominent art-dealer and custodian of Tuanku Ismail’s photography archive, found out fairly recently, from a former butler, who is now in his 70s.“My grandfather originally titled the works, Kuala Lumpur Masa Berkurong (after the old spelling). He went around taking photographs of the city, with only a small escort. When the prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman came to know about this, he insisted my grandfather stay inside the Istana Negara precincts, for better security.“My grandfather had erstwhile chose to stay in the kampung-like setting of Istana Terengganu at 34 Jalan Kia Peng and commute to Istana Negara on a daily basis,” said Raja Ihsan.He recalled that he was nine then, and May 14 was to be his birthday party at Istana Negara, but his grandfather had used up all the films in the camera shooting an ‘empty’ Kuala Lumpur instead. The original photographs in gelatin silver prints on fibre-based photographic paper were in limited editions of 5 each.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
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