aUSTY LEE carves the mušḫuššu dragon into Australian opal
The Garden of Myth Collection introduces an audacious brooch that channels ancient Mesopotamian splendour through carved Australian opal and eighteen karat gold, studded with Mozambican rubies, tsavorites and pearls.
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Antiquity breathes through this brooch with the luminous intensity of carved Australian opal. aUSTY LEE’s singular interpretation of the mušḫuššu, the mythological creature that once adorned the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon, materialises in 18K yellow gold as an exuberant marriage of sculptural ambition and gemstone mastery. The opal body, pale and iridescent, captures the ethereal quality of the creature’s legendary scales, whilst its architectural form recalls both the predatory grace and the ceremonial weight the beast carried across Mesopotamian tradition.
Set against the opal’s milky depths are Mozambican unheated rubies in jewel tones, their clarity acute and unapologetic. Tsavorites glisten in viridian accents. Black enamel articulates the creature’s definition, grounding its otherworldly presence, whilst pearls hang from delicate chains that suggest movement, metamorphosis, a living mythology. Fancy coloured diamonds and brilliant whites punctuate the composition, their light dancing across surfaces that shift between translucency and reflection. The brooch is weighted, dimensional, demanding to be held and examined: this is jewellery as conversation with the ancient world, crafted for someone who understands that the most potent luxury speaks in a vocabulary older than commerce.
From the Garden of Myth Collection, this brooch exists as a solitary piece, each one singular in its conception and execution. Contact aUSTY LEE directly to enquire about this work and the broader collection.
Imagery courtesy of aUSTY LEE (@austy_lee).