Lizzadro Lapidary Museum, Illinois Virtual Tour

LIZZADRO MUSEUM of LAPIDARY ART Elmhurst, Illinois Virtual Tour October 29, 2008 As we have consistently seen photos and articles about this museum, we stopped in on our way to Wisconsin and were not disappointed. Two floors, tastefully arranged, about all you would want to see in an afternoon. The lower floor has displays but also a classroom for school groups to come to learn about rocks & minerals. We recommend this as a destination if you are ever in the Chicago area. It is in a suburb of Chicago, easy to locate off the main freeway. Below is a memorial portrait of Joseph Lizzadro, Sr. made of 1300 pieces of gemstones without using grout, created by Bruno Lastrucci of Florence Italy. The tecnique is called "commesso di pietra dura" (the joining together of hard stone).
RAW GEMSTONES & BOULDERS
Petrified wood trunk at the side entrance, 2300 pounds, from Arizona	Moss agate boulder, 1300 pounds, from India	Michigan copper/silver "Half breed", 1091 pounds	Nephrite jade from the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada
Jadeite boulder, Burma	Petrified palm wood, Texas	Petrified oak, Washington State, a beautiful "butterfly"	Palm wood tree trunk, Texas
Angel wing Calcite, Mexico	Float jade, Wyoming	Itacalumite Ever hear of a rock that bends? Flexible sandstone is called The Bending Rock. Some of the cementing material between the grains has weakened, and mica particles between the grains allow for minute slippage	Copper, Michigan Botryoidal Hematite, Brazil
Ruby in Zoisite slice, the color was unforgettable. The close up photos are great screen savers
Ilya Schar GEM PAINTINGS (Moscow born artist), uses ground gemstones to create these unique paintings
School of fish	Peacock	Beaks
GEMSTONE CARVINGS
Jade (Jadeite) bowl, China. A delicate green/lavender, this is an exquisite carving	The Harvest, Amber from Italy	Madonna, Rutilated smoky quartz, Germany	Intarsia Boxes, Nicolai Medvedev Memorial Box Box of rhodochrosite, malachite, etc.
Rose quartz bowl, Germany	Amethyst bowl, Germany	Nephrite Jade bowl	Rhodochrosite bowl, Germany
Bowl in Ruby zoisite, Germany	White Nephrite Jade, Ceremonial Vase, Moghul-style carving (descendants of Tamerlane and Genghis Khan, combined Persian and Hindu influences); the walls are 1/16" thick		Agate & Obsidian carving, Glenn Lehrer
Ornamental bottle, Rock Crystal, China	Polar jade, Polar Mine, British Columbia, Canada	Turquoise, from the collection of Cheng Kong Man Ying	Chloromelanite Jadeite, China
Guan Yin or Guanyin (Godess of Mercy and Compassion, and Protectress of Children), Coral, China's most popular deity. Created from a single jadeite boulder in the 20th century	Rare Hanging Bottle, Nephrite Jade, China	Rare blue jadeite imperial pagoda, China, made during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795), used t burn incense in the Imperial Palace in Beijing, China. The blue jade was mined in Burma	Glacier's Edge; bears-dolomite, ice-quartz
Large Nephrite Bi This large prayer disc is the oldest piece in the Museum, made to honor the birthday of Emperor Zhu Gong who lived about 600 B.C. The bi symbolized the visible sun or moon disc, used in the worship of the heavens. This large size indicates the high station of the owner. The unusual color is due to the presence of iron oxide as the nephrite jade was forming.
POLISHED GEM CABOCHONS
Oregon jasper	Hematite, Brazil	Thomsonite, Michigan	Bruneau Jasper, Idaho
Snow Mountain Jasper, Colorado	Gingko wood, Washington State	Poppy Jasper, California	Laguna agate, Mexico
Marcasite agate, Michigan	Moctezuma agate, Mexico
CASTLE LIZZADRO This gemstone creation turns 360 degrees to music
Dedicated to the memory of Chris Lizzadro (grandson of the Museum's founer) and to other children whose lives ended with dreams unfulfilled. Crated by William Tolliday of London England in 1984 on Brazilian agate, the 18k gold castle rises from specimens of amethyst, malachite, azurite and vanadium. Faceted diamonds sparkle in the windows, giving the appearance of an occupied residence, ready to welcome weary travelers.
EIGHTEEN LOHAN, disciples of Buddha, Ivory shown in exaggerated realism to emphasize their denial of earthly pleasures.





IVORY CARVINGS
	Last Supper, Italy, 19th century, based on Leonardo da Vinci's painting

Ivory, Japan	Ivory balls within balls How ivory puzzle balls are made	Ivory balls within balls, 24 spheres, all move independently inside each other, carved in late 19th Century China. Elegance, delicacy, and intricacy are the requisite characteristics (ya, hsi, and fan)
CAMEOS It is believed the first cameo was made in Alexandria in 332 B.C. and the art peaked in the Roman Empire 70 A.D. Sardonyx stone from India & Arabia was later used due to the contrasting dark & light layers.
SHELL CARVED CAMEOS Full shell carving
Mother of Good Counsel (Council?)	Holy Child	Madonna	Priest & holy child
Madonna & child	Praying child	Wise man with holy child	African portrait
Elizabethan style woman	Will Rogers	Richard Wagner	Giuseppe Verdi
AGATE CARVED CAMEOS Stages of carving cameos on agate, on a slab of natural slab of agate. Cameos with 3 or more layers of color are rare. These cameos are natural in color.



OTHER GEMSTONE CARVED CAMEOS
Tiger eye	Bloodstone	Malachite	Amethyst
ANIMAL CARVINGS The dioramas were created in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, a lapidary center in Europe.
Woodpeckers in Jasper and tigereye, feet 14k gold	Bears, mahogany obsidian	"Ziggy", an Asian bull elephant in sheen obsidian, replica of him in Cage 1974, Brookfield Zoo; he lived till 1976. The ivory tusks were carved from a piece of his own broken tusk	Aquarium of fish
Diorama, The Holdup, Mahogany Obsidian	Robins, jasper, obsidian, chalcedony	Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Pteradactyl and others
	Bear in Nephrite Polar jade, British Columbia, Canada	Parrot
SNUFF BOTTLES
Black Opal	White opal	White opal	Tourmaline
Amber

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