Comment 9 for bug 172123

PomCompot wrote:
> In Inkscape 0.48, the workaround doesn't seem to work anymore, sad.

You can still clip or mask layers in Inkscape 0.48.x using the described workaround involving the XML Editor. But - as in older versions - you might have to watch out for different transforms on the layer groups (the clipped layer as well as the layer with the clip-path) used for masking or clipping the layer (see bug #569281).