This mask is similar in form to the masks known as 'Gable masks' particularly because of its size and bold features. In the Sepik region, an artist making an ‘ancestor mask’ cannot simply vary its painting. The designs of the ‘ancestor mask’ must be kept to the patterns actually worn by the dead man in ceremonies during his lifetime. Those were his personal property and not to be imitated by others.'Ancestor masks' were made to commemorate the recently deceased, and were kept in the men's house, out of the view of the uninitiated, the women and children.
