The Spirit of Ecstasy figurine hood ornament on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.
I always thought that the statue was of some kind of angel or other mythological >a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird-people">Bird Person, but, according to Wikipedia, the "Spirit of Ecstasy" (also known as "The Flying Lady" in the United States), is just supposed to be an ordinary human lady with billowing cloth resembling wings.
I'm currently playing the JRPG (Japanese role-playing game) Star Ocean: The Last Hope on the XBox 360, so she reminds me of the Featherfolk character, Sarah Jerand.
From Wikipedia:
The Spirit of Ecstasy was designed by Charles Sykes and carries with it a story about a secret passion between John Walter Edward Scott-Montagu, (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car) and his secret love and the model for the emblem, Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Eleanor was John Walter's secretary, and their love was to remain hidden, limited to their friends, for more than a decade. The reason for the secrecy was Eleanor's impoverished social and economic status, which was an obstacle to their love. John-Walter, succumbing to family pressures, married Lady Cecil Victoria Constance, but the secret love affair continued.
When Montagu commissioned Sykes to sculpt a personal mascot for the bonnet of his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Sykes chose Eleanor Thornton as his model. Sykes originally crafted a figurine of her in fluttering robes, pressing a finger against her lips - to symbolise the secrets of their love. The figurine was consequently christened The Whisper.
The very first Rolls-Royce motorcars did not feature radiator mascots; they simply carried the Rolls-Royce emblem. This, however, was not enough for their customers who believed that such a prestigious vehicle as a Rolls-Royce motorcar should have its own luxurious mascot, and by 1910 personal mascots had become the fashion of the day. Rolls-Royce were concerned to note that some owners were affixing "inappropriate" ornaments to their cars. Claude Johnson, then managing director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, was asked to see to the commissioning of something more suitably dignified and graceful.
He turned to Charles Sykes, a young artist friend and a graduate of London's Royal College of Art, to produce a mascot which would adorn all future Rolls-Royce cars and become generic to the marque, with the specifications that it should convey "the spirit of the Rolls-Royce, namely, speed with silence, absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy and a beautiful living organism of superb grace..."
The Spirit of Ecstasy figurine hood ornament on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.
I always thought that the statue was of some kind of angel or other mythological >a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird-people">Bird Person, but, according to Wikipedia, the "Spirit of Ecstasy" (also known as "The Flying Lady" in the United States), is just supposed to be an ordinary human lady with billowing cloth resembling wings.
I'm currently playing the JRPG (Japanese role-playing game) Star Ocean: The Last Hope on the XBox 360, so she reminds me of the Featherfolk character, Sarah Jerand.
From Wikipedia:
The Spirit of Ecstasy was designed by Charles Sykes and carries with it a story about a secret passion between John Walter Edward Scott-Montagu, (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car) and his secret love and the model for the emblem, Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Eleanor was John Walter's secretary, and their love was to remain hidden, limited to their friends, for more than a decade. The reason for the secrecy was Eleanor's impoverished social and economic status, which was an obstacle to their love. John-Walter, succumbing to family pressures, married Lady Cecil Victoria Constance, but the secret love affair continued.
When Montagu commissioned Sykes to sculpt a personal mascot for the bonnet of his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Sykes chose Eleanor Thornton as his model. Sykes originally crafted a figurine of her in fluttering robes, pressing a finger against her lips - to symbolise the secrets of their love. The figurine was consequently christened The Whisper.
The very first Rolls-Royce motorcars did not feature radiator mascots; they simply carried the Rolls-Royce emblem. This, however, was not enough for their customers who believed that such a prestigious vehicle as a Rolls-Royce motorcar should have its own luxurious mascot, and by 1910 personal mascots had become the fashion of the day. Rolls-Royce were concerned to note that some owners were affixing "inappropriate" ornaments to their cars. Claude Johnson, then managing director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, was asked to see to the commissioning of something more suitably dignified and graceful.
He turned to Charles Sykes, a young artist friend and a graduate of London's Royal College of Art, to produce a mascot which would adorn all future Rolls-Royce cars and become generic to the marque, with the specifications that it should convey "the spirit of the Rolls-Royce, namely, speed with silence, absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy and a beautiful living organism of superb grace..."