Ruler
Painted ox horn was used to decorate a range of objects from large furniture to smaller everyday wares, such as boxes, mirror stands, and sewing implements. By the late Joseon, the ox horn decorative technique was fully developed. The horn would be cut into very thin sheets and then one side would be painted. Due to the near transparency of the sheet, the painting could be seen through to the other side. The painted side would then be adhered to the object using a lacquer-resin adhesive.
Each of the twelve segments of the ruler is decorated with a zodiac animal. The sequence follows the order of the zodiac with the rat on the left end and the pig on the right. Although the images are small, the artisans used short dashes to indicate the ground plane and clouds around the dragon to situate the animals in space.
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