Animal Kingdom is a beautifully illustrated wallpaper design by Edgar Miller. The design contains line illustrations of eleven different animals and birds which include a pelican, dog, horse and lion, each a wonderful caricature of an identifiable species. They are drawn in a gestural fashion with a splash of white filling in the creature’s body. Miller received recognition for his wallpaper designs at the 1951 Good Design Exhibition jointly sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. This was the second year of the Good Design show, and the first year that wallpapers were included. Miller had two designs featured in the exhibition including Animal Kingdom and another design with gourds. This is one of two designs by Miller in the Museum’s collection, the other being Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia was illustrated using a similar line format with a single object or animal representing each letter of the alphabet. The design was available with and without descriptive text beneath each image. All three of these designs were from the same wallpaper collection which is the only one known to have been designed by Miller for Bassett & Vollum. Around this same time Miller created a set of silk-screened fabric placemats which also uses the cheetah image.
Miller moved from Idaho to Chicago to study at the School of the Art institute of Chicago and became known for his creation of murals, wood carvings, stained glass and metalwork for building interiors on Chicago’s North Side. Miller was unusual in that he designed and executed the work himself.