Lion statues
When HSBC decided to build its third headquarters at 1 Queen's Road Central, opened in 1935, it commissioned two bronze lions from Shanghai-based British sculptor W. W. Wagstaff. This commission was inspired by two earlier lions that had been ordered for the new Shanghai office opened in 1923. Cast by J W Singer & Sons in the English town of Frome, to a design by Henry Poole RA, these lions had quickly become part of the Shanghai scene, and passers-by would affectionately stroke the lions in the belief that power and money would rub off on them. They became known as Stephen and Stitt: Stephen was named for A. G. Stephen, the Chief Manager of HSBC in 1923, and G. H. Stitt, the then Shanghai Manager. Stephen is depicted roaring and Stitt is at rest, which was said to represent the characters of these two famous bankers.[32]
Like the Shanghai lions, the Hong Kong lions became objects of veneration, and foci of the Bank's perceived excellent feng shui. People are known to still bring their children to stroke the paws and noses of the statues hoping for luck and prosperity.[33]
During World War 2, the lions were confiscated by the Japanese and sent to Japan to be melted down. The war ended before this could happen, and the lions were recognised by an American sailor in a dockyard in Osaka in 1945. They were returned a few months later and restored to their original positions in October 1946.[32]
During the demolition of the building in 1981, the lions were temporarily moved to Statue Square, opposite the main entrance. As a mark of the respect the lions were held in, the move to Statue Square and the move back in 1985 were accompanied by the chairman Sir Michael Sandberg and senior management of the Bank. The placement of the lions both temporarily and in their current locations was made only after extensive consultations with feng shui practitioners.[32]
The lion named Stephen has shrapnel scars in its left hind-quarters dating from the fighting in the Battle of Hong Kong.[17] When this pair of lions was used as the model for the pair commissioned for the new UK Headquarters of HSBC in 2002, Zambian-born New Zealand sculptor Mark Kennedy was asked not to reproduce these "war wounds" in the copies as the shrapnel marks were seen as historical battle-scars.[34]
The following is a list of bronze copies and re-casts of the HSBC lions:
Various other HSBC branches throughout the world feature small-scaled replicas of these originals, with varying degrees of faithfulness. Other HSBC branches often feature guardian lions to different designs, such as Chinese guardian lions.
- In Hong Kong:
- Hong Kong (1935) – modelled on Shanghai originals; sculpted by W W Wagstaff, cast by Shanghai Arts and Crafts.
- Hong Kong (replicas) (2015) – copies of Hong Kong lions; for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of HSBC; placed at the lobby of HSBC Centre, HSBC's back office headquarter in Hong Kong.
- In China:
- Shanghai (original) (1923) – sculpted by Henry Poole RA, cast by J W Stinger & Sons. The originals are held by the Shanghai Historic Museum (which currently has no permanent home) and are separately on display at the Museum's display room under the Oriental Pearl Tower (Stephen) and the Shanghai Banking Museum (Stitt), both in Lujiazui.
- Shanghai (replicas) (c. 1997) – copies of Shanghai originals, commissioned by the government-owned Shanghai Pudong Development Bank after it obtained the former HSBC building.
- Shanghai (current) (2010) – copies of Hong Kong lions.
- In the United Kingdom
- London (2001) – copies of Hong Kong lions; cast by Bronze Age Foundry, Limehouse, at the direction of Mark Kennedy.
