Modernist jeweler Nita Lustig Platosh
Modernist jeweler Nita Lustig Platosh (1914 – 1997)
Born in Canada, Nita Mae Overbaugh grew up in Chicago, Illinois and became known as mid-century modernist jewelry designer Nita Lustig Platosh (May 1, 1914 – July 27, 1997). The award-winning designer Lustig was part of the wearable art movement that was popular in the middle of the last century.
According to available archival data, she was married twice – first to Benjamin Platosh (1909-1995), and in 1943 to Erwin Lustig.
Nita opened her workshop in Chicago in the early 1950s and made modernist sterling silver pieces until the 1970s. Several magazine publications and newspapers featured her unique works and achievements. Among them, in particular, the newspaper Park Forest Star (August 22, 1968) and Craft Horizons (January/February 1968).
Lustig traditionally used sterling silver over two layers of copper and labeled her modernist creations “Lustig” and “Sterling”.
Her last residence was Naples, Florida, where she died at the age of 83.
Today, her unique pieces are rare on the market and highly collectible.