AFTER AUGUSTE-HYACINTHE DEBAY (FRENCH 1804-1865), A PLASTER FIGURE 'LE BERCEAU PRIMITIF (THE FIRST CRADLE)' LATE 19TH CENTURY Depicting Eve cradling Cain and Abel Signed to side 'A De Bay' approximately 46cm high For a similar study in terracotta please see lot 18, Sotheby's 19th and 20th century European Sculpture sale, November 25th 2009. Debay was an accomplished painter and sculptor who won the prestigious Prix de Rome for painting in 1823. Although his sculptural oeuvre was small-comprising only about twenty works- it included one of the most widely recognized sculptures of the mid-19th century, 'The First Cradle'. After its debut at the Salon of 1845, the original was exhibited to great acclaim in London at the Great Exhibition of 1851. This popular subject was also produced for sale in casts in bronze, terracotta and, as this lot, plaster.