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He called this first model The Spirit of Speed. Sykes chose to modify The Whisper into a version similar to today's Spirit of Ecstasy. It was again Miss Thornton whom he had in mind. He felt that a more feminine representation might be apt. Sykes' brief from Claude Johnson had been to evoke the spirit of mythical beauty, Nike, whose graceful image was admired in The Louvre, but Sykes was not impressed. He turned to Sykes 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." Claude Johnson, then managing director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, was asked to commission a more dignified and graceful mascot. Rolls-Royce were concerned to note that some owners were affixing "inappropriate" ornaments to their cars. Side view of The Spirit of Ecstasy (1972 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow)īy 1910 personal mascots had become the fashion of the day. Only three or four castings were ever made, and only two are believed to have survived. The figurine was consequently named The Whisper and is on display at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu along with other Spirit of Ecstasy figurines. Sykes originally crafted a figurine of her in fluttering robes, having placed one forefinger against her lips – to symbolize the secret of the love affair between Thornton and Montagu. When John, 2nd Baron Montagu commissioned his friend, sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes, who worked in London under the nobleman's patronage, to sculpt a personal mascot for the bonnet of his 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Sykes chose Eleanor Velasco Thornton as his model. The first Rolls-Royce motorcars did not feature radiator mascots they simply carried the Rolls-Royce emblem. History The Whisper, precursor to the Spirit of Ecstasy

Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wings. It is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her. The Spirit of Ecstasy is the bonnet mascot sculpture on Rolls-Royce cars. Spirit of Ecstasy on a Rolls-Royce Corniche