This plaque with a carving of a quail chick (Coturnix coturnix) attests to the ability of the Egyptian sculptor to accurately render a subject. The exquisite details of this carving indicate that the bird is a fledgling only several weeks old; its body still covered with fluffy down that is shown as a pecked pattern. The artist has faithfully recorded the feet that are oversized in proportion to the body, the pronounced claws of the young bird, and the presence of the primary feathers emerging on the immature wings. The details of the anatomy of the legs and feet, the gap at the base of the beak, the circular detail over the ear covert, and the indication of the adult feathers on the small wing are all astounding, leading Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, an Egyptologist-ornithologist, to wonder if the carving was a life study made with the tiny bird in the physical presence of the sculptor.^[1]1

The very fine-grained limestone has stained and darkened over the millennia, probably because it was subjected to heat. The plaque has raised areas at the bottom continuing from the baseline partway up the right side, and in the upper left corner. Like most relief plaques of animals and birds, the chick is facing to the right. The quail chick is one of the most common hieroglyphs, conveying the phonetic value “w.”2

Acquisition

This plaque was among the objects purchased by James Henry Breasted in Cairo for the Art Institute, at the time when the museum began to focus its Egyptian collection on objects that demonstrated the sophistication and skill of ancient artists. This object was acquired from the dealer Maurice Nahman. Breasted wrote to Charles Hutchinson that it was “an exquisite piece.”^[2]3

For more on relief plaques, see About Relief Plaques.4

Provenance

Maurice Nahman (1868–1948), Cairo; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago through James Henry Breasted as agent, 1919.5

Publication History

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 44 (ill.), 46.6

Leon Marfoe, A Guide to the Oriental Institute Museum (Chicago: Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago, 1982), 20 (ill.), 21.7

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 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2012), 28.8

Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, ed., Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt, exh. cat. (Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2012), cat. 19, 169 (ill.), 170.9

Emily Teeter, “Collecting for Chicago: James Henry Breasted and the Egyptian Collections,” Oriental Institute News and Notes 226 (Summer 2015): 11 (ill.).10

Sarah Maler Halim, “A Comparative Study Between the Representation of Quails in Ancient Egyptian and Byzantine Art,” Annal of General Union of Arab Archaeologists 25 (2022): 91, fig. 7.11