Plaque Depicting a Quail Chick

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Edward Hopper

Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BC)

Egyptian

Remarkable for its lifelike detail, this plaque depicts a fledgling quail, better known to literate Egyptians as the hieroglyph for the sound w. Plaques like this one that show animals, deities, and royalty were a relatively late addition to the ancient Egyptian artistic repertoire, first appearing around 664 BC. Their function remains a mystery—they may have been used as sculptors’ models in the training of artists, dedicated in temples as gifts to the gods, or perhaps both.

On View: Ancient and Byzantine Art, Gallery 152

Artist: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Plaque Depicting a Quail Chick
Origin: Egypt
Date: 332 AD–30 AD
Medium: Limestone
Dimensions: 12 × 13.2 × 1.3 cm (4 3/4 × 5 1/4 × 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Museum Purchase Fund
Reference Number: 1920.256

Emily Teeter, “Collecting for Chicago: James Henry Breasted and the Egyptian Collections,” in the Oriental Institute News and Notes, Members’ Magazine, issue 226 (Summer 2015), p. 11 (ill.).
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago, by Karen Manchester (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2012), p. 28.
Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, ed., Between Heaven & Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt. exh. cat. (The Oriental Institute/University of Chicago, 2012), cat. no. 19.
A Guide to the Oriental Institute Museum (University of Chicago, 1982), pp. 20-21.
Thomas G. Allen, A Handbook of The Egyptian Collection (Art Institute of Chicago/University of Chicago Press, 1923), pp. 44 (ill.), 46.

The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Rubloff 154A, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
The Oriental Institute, Between Heaven & Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt, October 16, 2012 - July 28, 2013.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email .

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