Egyptomania: Egypt-themed mural newly uncovered

Whittier Daily News

Beneath 2 inches of sand, red terra cotta tiles and cement, four sheets of asphalt, and tar used to seal a roof after the 1933 earthquake, a note-worthy tile mural was found.

The Campbell Apartments in Long Beach, first completed in 1928, claim record of the first housing to convert to condos on the West Coast, and were reportedly favorite digs of stars such as Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra and even the Black Dahlia. . . .

Seventy-three years after the roof had been sealed with tar, a leak was found by top-floor residents, and the repair process began.

"They had to keep going down to the bottom," Kaiser, 58, said.

Once the mural was found, the condo association was notified, and word eventually got to Kaiser.

"To us this is like an oil painting," he said, explaining the attempts made to save the remarkable mural - an 8-foot-by-8-foot depiction of a kneeling camel in front of three pyramids.

Signed by artist Cerillo Torres, the tiles were made by D & M Tiles, a defunct Los Angeles firm.

"This is the largest D & M mural ever found, and also, it's artist signed," Casey said.