The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art is a museum dedicated to the lapidary arts with displays of

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

and bejeweled objects, and exhibits on

earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

. The museum was founded in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History M ...

, United States, in 1962, and moved to

Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook is a village (Illinois), village in DuPage County, Illinois, with a very small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. The population was 8,163 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Chicago, it contains th ...

, in 2019.

History

The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art was opened on November 4, 1962. The museum was founded by Joseph Lizzadro, an Italian immigrant to the United States who began collecting

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

s as part of his interest in cutting and polishing precious stones for jewelry. His collection came to include pieces made of

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

agate Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of d ...

, and other gemstones. As his collection grew, he made an agreement with the city of Elmhurst, Illinois, and the Elmhurst Park District to open a museum in the city's Wilder Park. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art is a

Smithsonian affiliate Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational stra ...

. It has curated several exhibitions of jewelry from the Smithsonian's collections. In 2017, the museum made plans to move from Elmhurst to a new building in Oak Brook, Illinois, to gain space and provide more modern amenities to visitors. This move occurred in November of 2019, but, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it was closed to the public for most of 2020.

Collections

The lapidary arts form the core of the Lizzadro Museum's collections, particularly jade carvings including the Altar of the Green Jade Pagoda by Chang Wen-Ti. However, the museum also displays a selection of uncarved gemstones,

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s, and other minerals, as well as sculptures,

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

s, and a miniature castle made of carved stone and gold called "Castle Lizzadro" by William Tolliday.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1962 establishments in Illinois Art museums and galleries established in 1962 Art museums and galleries in Illinois Science museums in Illinois Asian art museums in the United States Decorative arts museums in the United States Museums in DuPage County, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois