Discovering What the Animal Statues in Some of the World’s Prominent Stock Exchanges Represent

12 min readOct 15, 2022

Discovering What the Animal Statues in Some of the World’s Prominent Stock Exchanges Represent

By Sheena Ricarte

~ Saturday, October 15, 2022 Blog Post ~

~ Updated on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 (5) THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE’S PATH TO PROSPERITY SCULPTURE) ~

I’m quite elated to have found the time today, Saturday, October 15, 2022, to write about what the imposing animal statues in some of the world’s prominent stock exchanges symbolize. I am well aware about New York’s world-famous Charging Bull.

There are also the Bull and Bear sculptures at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany. I discovered that China’s stock exchanges feature animal artworks as well. For instance, Shanghai has its Bund statue and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has the two water buffalo sculptures.

I must say that sizable and robust animals like bulls, bears, and water buffaloes appear to go together with stock exchanges.

I’m quite curious and want to feel enlightened about what these striking pieces of art mean as they are correlated with the international bourses. Hence, I took the time today to research and write about this topic.

My article will feature four stock exchanges’ animal statues: New York City’s Charging Bull of Wall Street, the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Bund, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Bull and Bear, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s two water buffalo statues.

I also included some images I obtained from Google Images and my official but now-dormant Instagram account to enrich my online discussion.

1) NEW YORK CITY’S CHARGING BULL OF WALL STREET NEAR THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

The Charging Bull is a world-famous bronze statue installed in New York City. It is also referred to as “the Bowling Green Bull” or “the Bull of Wall Street.”

The Charging Bull is a 7,100-pound or 3,200-kilogram bronze sculpture that measures 16 feet or 4.9 meters long and stands 11 feet or 3.4 meters tall.

Additionally, this statue, which stands at the Financial District of Manhattan, is specifically placed in Broadway’s cobblestone-paved traffic median, which is just north of Bowling Green.

I gathered that Arturo Di Modica created the Charging Bull that is a famous tourist destination today, drawing thousands of visitors daily. This Italian artist made the bronze statue in the wake of the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash.

I found out that Di Modica came to Wall Street with the Charging Bull on a truck’s back late in the night of Thursday, December 14, 1989. He reportedly unlawfully dropped the statue outside of the New York Stock Exchange Building.

Then, the New York City Police Department removed the Charging Bull later that day. The statue found itself installed at Bowling Green on December 20, 1989 and has since then been frequented by visitors as a popular tourist attraction.

In 1998, Di Modica informed the New York Daily News that the Charging Bull in New York City is one of an edition of five. He affirmed that he hoped the other four bull statues would head to cities worldwide whenever someone purchases them.

The Charging Bull with its head lowered seemingly prepared to charge and leaning back on its haunches symbolizes prosperity and aggressive financial optimism. Moreover, this world-renowned animal statue represents New York City’s Financial District and Wall Street.

I learned that the Charging Bull exhibits a belligerent force on the move and the themes of strength, energy, and the stock market’s unpredictability. It is described as a Wall Street icon and one of New York’s most iconic images.

Dianne Durante described the Charging Bull as a statue featuring wickedly long and sharp horns ready to gore, a lowered head, and flaring nostrils. This author of the book titled, “Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide” also pointed out that the New York City sculpture appears to be a dangerous and furious beast.

Its muscular physique twists to one side and its tail is curved similar to a lash. Durante cited that the Charging Bull is in motion and energetic.

She added that the statue’s bronze hue and its surface’s metallic texture stress the bull’s brute force.

2) SHANGHAI’S THE BUND AT THE SHANGHAI STOCK EXCHANGE

I also included the Bund statue which can be seen adjacent to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The latter is a bourse in Shanghai, China.

Furthermore, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is one of the three stock exchanges that independently operate in China. The other two are the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Beijing Stock Exchange.

I gathered that the Bund is a derivative work of the Charging Bull, which is the famous bronze statue in New York City that represents abundance, wealth, and financial success.

3) FRANKFURT’S BULL AND BEAR STATUES AT THE FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE

I find it quite interesting to discover that Charging Bull creator Arturo Di Modica may have been influenced by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Bull and Bear statues.

This pair of enormous metallic sculptures in front of the German bourse is situated at Börsenplatz, Frankfurt am Main, Germany with zip code 60313.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Bull and Bear statues are known locally as Bulle und Bär. They are the European stock market’s bronze symbolic figures: the bull for the bull market and the bear for the bear market.

I’m fascinated to learn about the history of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Bull and Bear monument that stands in front of the bourse’s building.

I gathered that the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s board decided to design the bourse’s forecourt when it celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1985. In that year, the group commissioned Würzburg sculptor Reinhard Dachlauer to create the two bronze animal artworks.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Bull and Bear statues were set up on October 6, 1988 on the redesigned eastern part of the bourse and handed over to the magistrate. These properties of the City of Frankfurt are among today’s most popular image motifs.

Moreover, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Bull and Bear sculptures that face each other in front of the German bourse’s impressive backdrop look massive and bursting with strength.

The bull’s majestic and upright posture symbolizes optimism and departure. Additionally, it appears as the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s protector and is supposed to ward off the bear’s misfortune or the “attack.”

On the other hand, I gathered that the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s bear statue that is in a ponderous and crouched position represents the bourse’s downward trend.

Both the larger-than-life bronze Bull and Bear sculptures of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange reflect the ups and downs of the stock market or money and securities trading.

4) HONG KONG’S TWO WATER BUFFALO SCULPTURES AT THE HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGE

I find it interesting to learn that another Asian stock exchange feature animal sculptures: the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This bourse features two water buffalo statues specifically located at 8 Connaught Place, Central, Exchange Square, Hong Kong, China.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s artwork featuring two traditional farming buffaloes are the bronze statues created by British sculptor Dame Elisabeth Frink. This artist is recognized for her figurative sculptures of animals and male persons.

Frink is behind Water Buffalo II Lying, which she created in 1987 and Water Buffalo I Standing that she made in 1988. The British artist’s artworks are outside the IFC shopping mall and the Exchange Square buildings in Hong Kong.

Visitors can gaze at these two stock market animal statues as they are located in a very convenient and central spot that is open to the public.

Furthermore, we can find the two water buffalo structures situated in an elevated pool, cascading down to the primary outdoor sculpture garden area.

I want to share that the two water buffalo artworks at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange look calm. They are staring forward and look like they are comfortable being in the sophisticated urban setting’s center.

If I were to contrast the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s two water buffalo statues with that of New York City’s Charging Bull, I must remark that they are beasts which are surely different from one another.

They have striking dissimilarities. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s two water buffalo statues feature beasts of burden typically seen around Hong Kong’s Lantau Island and hiking trails.

One of the farming animal stands passively looking out over Exchange Square, while the other one rests lazily under the sun.

Additionally, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s two water buffalo statues appear to be gazing at the East Asian bourse’s brightly lit electronic ticker board and screens constantly displaying real-time and updated stock market figures.

On the other hand, I must say that New York City’s Charging Bull is full of power and rage. It exhibits the dynamic vibe of the world’s financial center and typical New York investors and traders’ eagerness to make and amass disproportionate sums of money.

5) THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE’S PATH TO PROSPERITY SCULPTURE

If the New York stock market has the Charging Bull statue and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange has the Bulle und Bär, the Philippine Stock Exchange has the “Path to Prosperity” sculpture. Based on the information placed on the artwork’s side, the sculpture represents the Philippine stock market’s ascent and how it has created wealth and prosperity to Filipino investors.

Additionally, I learned that the “Path to Prosperity” sculpture at the Philippine Stock Exchange’s front side symbolizes the Makati and Manila stock exchanges’ unification.

The Philippine Stock Exchange’s “Path to Prosperity” sculpture — Image 1 of 5 (Sheena Ricarte, July 2023)

The Philippine Stock Exchange’s “Path to Prosperity” sculpture — Image 2 of 5 (Sheena Ricarte, July 2023)

The Philippine Stock Exchange’s “Path to Prosperity” sculpture — Image 3 of 5 (Sheena Ricarte, July 2023)

The Philippine Stock Exchange’s “Path to Prosperity” sculpture — Image 4 of 5 (Sheena Ricarte, July 2023)

The Philippine Stock Exchange’s “Path to Prosperity” sculpture — Image 5 of 5 (Sheena Ricarte, July 2023)

After discussing the striking animal statues in the prestigious stock exchanges of New York City, Shanghai, Frankfurt, and Hong Kong, I just want to enlighten myself and my followers about common stock market terms “bull” and “bear.”

In stock market language, the expressions “bull” and “bear” are frequently utilized to describe general attitudes and actions or sentiments either of the stock market as a whole or an individual asset.

Investors use the terms “bullish” or “bearish” as a fast way to tell about their feelings regarding specific financial markets or securities. I wrote about these relevant terms below:

A) BULL, BULLISH, and BULL MARKET

The expression “bull” possesses a much more positive connotation compared to “bear” when utilized to discuss the financial markets.

When we say “bull market,” it means a financial market is on the rise and is economically sound. It also pertains to the time when trading prices in the stock market are rising.

A bullish speculator and a bull market refer to speculative purchases made with the anticipation of stock price increase.

B) BEAR, BEARISH, and BEAR MARKET

In the financial markets, the term “bear” describes a speculator selling stock. Richard Steele is the publisher of The Tatler, which is a British literary and society journal.

I gathered that he is the person who made one of the earliest references of the word “bear.” Steele used this stock market term to tell something about a marketplace transaction in 1709.

Additionally, he defined a “bear” in an essay as a person who puts a real value on an imaginary object, and is, therefore, said to be “selling a bear.”

Meanwhile, when we say “bearish,” it pertains to a sentiment when the financial market is characterized by falling share prices.

A “bear market” refers to a decline in trading prices of one asset or security, a group of securities, or the securities market as a whole, usually for a few months. It also means a market that is receding and where most stocks are declining in value.

I want to note here one instance when the financial market expression “bear market” is relevant, which was during the United States’ stock market crash of 1929.

This horrendous event precipitated one of the worst bear markets in the history of today’s largest economy. The US stock market crash of 1929 resulted in the Great Depression and a bear market that lasted nearly three years.

I learned that a move of 20 percent or more from a recent trough or peak usually triggers an “official” bull or bear market. Moreover, either market’s effect can undeniably influence an investor’s wealth and investment portfolio.

I gathered that people find it unclear when it comes to the origin of the “bull” and “bear” terms’ usage in the financial markets. Both animals are well-known for their unpredictable and incredible strength.

Thus, the image that each of them evokes in regards to the stock market’s volatility surely rings true. I just want to share here one of the most common explanations on how the words “bull” and “bear” became stock market terminologies.

A bull attacks its opponent by bringing its horns upward. It typically thrusts these parts of its body into the air. In contrast, a bear attacks its foe by swiping its paws downward.

These techniques of a bull and a bear attacking their opponents have become metaphorically related to the stock market’s movements. A bull market is a reality if the trend is up, while it is a bear market if the trend is down.

A secular bear market and a secular bull market are expressions utilized to describe long-term patterns of wealth destruction or wealth creation in a stock market beyond and above regular volatility.

This fact is especially when accounting for purchasing power changes due to deflation or inflation. I gathered that plenty of other explanations are present when it comes to how the “bull” and “bear” animal names have become stock market movement descriptors.

Nonetheless, for now, I would like to settle with what I have mentioned above. Anyway, I am really glad to have had the time to write this discussion today, Saturday, October 15, 2022 as my schedule is always pretty busy.

I also want to highlight the following words and phrases I used in this article. I emboldened these expressions above. They actually answer my query of what the meanings of the animal statues placed close to the famous stock markets are:

1. prosperity

2. aggressive financial optimism

3. New York City’s Financial District

4. Wall Street

5. strength

6. energy

7. the stock market’s unpredictability

8. abundance

9. wealth

10. financial success

11. optimism

12. departure