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Buffalo

Founder Cast by Gorham Manufacturing Company American
1912, cast 1913 or after
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 756
Government-sanctioned hunting reduced the North American bison (or buffalo) population from millions to mere hundreds by the early 1880s. Awareness of the animal’s plight inspired numerous statuettes that served as three-dimensional metaphors for a bygone past. Proctor’s most recognizable work, both at full scale and in reduction, is his Buffalo. In 1911 he was commissioned to produce four monumental bronze bison for the pylons of Q Street (Dumbarton) Bridge in Washington, D.C. After visiting Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada, to observe a bison herd, Proctor modeled the wooly-maned animal in a stately pose, the only motion a swish of its raised tail.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Buffalo
  • Artist: Alexander Phimister Proctor (American, Bosanquet, Ontario 1860–1950 Palo Alto, California)
  • Founder: Cast by Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, Providence, Rhode Island, 1831–present)
  • Date: 1912, cast 1913 or after
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 13 1/2 × 19 × 9 3/4 in. (34.3 × 48.3 × 24.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of George D. Pratt, 1935
  • Object Number: 48.149.29
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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For Q Street Bridge Washington D.C., Alexander Phimister Proctor American, Graphite on paper, American
For Q Street Bridge Washington D.C.
Alexander Phimister Proctor
ca. 1911
Morgan Stallion, Alexander Phimister Proctor American, Bronze, American
Morgan Stallion
Alexander Phimister Proctor
Gorham Manufacturing Company
ca. 1913
Indian Warrior, Alexander Phimister Proctor American, Bronze, American
Indian Warrior
Alexander Phimister Proctor
Gorham Manufacturing Company
1898; cast 1913-by 1917
Buckaroo, Alexander Phimister Proctor American, Bronze, American
Buckaroo
Alexander Phimister Proctor
Roman Bronze Works
1914, cast 1915
Buffalo, Alexander Phimister Proctor American, Bronze, American
Buffalo
Alexander Phimister Proctor
Gorham Manufacturing Company
1912; cast 1913

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