Complex in their structure and form, few Sawos basketry masks are extant. This rare mask is built of numerous individual basketry units lashed together into an elaborate helmet shape. The large multifaceted eyes and broad lower jaw appear suspended in separate planes. The outer surface was then coated with a thick clay mixture and painted. When the mask was completed the basket weave would not have been visible. Masks such as this one capture our imagination with their masterful manipulation of natural materials and their emotive power.Field photographs taken in 1960 reveal that originally, an attached framework supported a costume. When worn, the mask and costume transformed the wearer into the spirit or ancestor represented by the mask. This mask belonged to the Meipe clan and was kept in the ceremonial men's house (nggaigo) in Aulimbit village in the Sawos area north of the Sepik River.