John Ryan (1925-1992), THE ASGARD RETURNS, signed lower right; inscribed and signed again on reverse, oil on board, 28 by 38cm. 11 by 15in. Inscribed as follows: "This was the yacht designed by Colin Archer of Norway in the early nineteenth century and given to Erskine Childers by his prospective father-in-law, Dr. Osgood of Boston (Mass.) as a wedding present. It was involved in the landing of guns in Ireland in 1914. Returned to Howth, Co. Dublin having been purchased by the Irish Government in 1962. Now preserved in Kilmainham Museum Dublin. Childers wrote the classic The Riddle of the Sands and was executed in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. I painted this from a sketch I made at the time from a boat outside Howth Harbour.", Euro 1,200-1,500 (IR £900-£1,200 approx.)