The Front of the “Barge of King Tut's Father” from the Love Through the Ages mural at the Tavern Club of Chicago

Edgar Miller
1934
Oil on board
L 74, W 45 cm

The Rear of the “Barge of King Tut's Father” from the Love Through the Ages mural at the Tavern Club of Chicago

Edgar Miller
1934
Oil on board
L 74, W 45 cm

Miller’s Love Through the Ages for The Tavern Club was an epic narrative mural that only a few lucky enough to spend time at the club during its early days had a chance to see in situ. The multi-panel piece was disassembled and sold off to make way for the remodeling of the space, named thereafter the “Edgar Miller Room” (because of the murals). In total, about 85 fragments of varying sizes were cut off the walls. Around 1960, Miller returned after renovations to the space were completed to create a new version of the mural, under the same theme but with subtle updates to suit the times. Today, only a dozen or so fragments from the original are accounted for, many of which reside at the Glasner Studio.

Two separate panels were cut from the section known as “Barge of King Tut’s Father” and with their Egyptian theme highlight some of Miller’s more modern and art deco stylings. Fortuitously, the two fragments making up the front and rear of the “Barge” scene have come to reside under the same roof, though they are kept apart in different rooms lest the barge get any ideas and try to reassemble itself and escape.