Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Buffalo

Middle Niger civilization

Not on view

The bush buffalo figures notably in an essential episode of the Sunjata epic in which Kamissa, a shape-shifting sorceress from the land of Dô, transforms herself into a Buffalo Woman. Within the context of Mande symbolism and legend, any leader wishing to establish his authority and power over a landscape or waterway had to enter into a contract agreement with its guardian spirit, or baafaro, a composite water animal.

Buffalo, Bronze, Middle Niger civilization

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.