The first pair of Bronze Lion Statue of HSBC was made after the model made by Henry Poole ARA in England, and began guarding the gate of the Shanghai branch office since 1923. The lion with his mouth open is "Stephen", named after the general manager of Hong Kong branch A. G. Stephen; the other lion is "Stitt", named after the general manager of Shanghai branch.
Since the opening in 1865, the four main office buildings are all located at One Queen's Road. The third main office building was completed in 1935. The second pair of HSBC bronze lion was situated at the Des Voeux Road entrance of the building. They are made by sculptor W. W. Wagstaff cloning the ones in Shanghai. Since them, Stephen and Stitt left their posts only twice. The first time is when the Japanese Army invaded Hong Kong in 1942, and took the lions back to Japan for military material. After Japan surrendered, the lions were returned through the Allied Army in Japan. The second time was in the 1980's when the current main office building was being constructed. The lions were temporarily moved to the neighboring Statue Square.
The third pair of Stephen and Stitt was cloned in 2001. They are now guarding the main office of the HSBC Group at Canary Wharf, London.
HSBC Bronze Lions appears on the following banknote(s):
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