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The Spirit of Ecstasy

© Anubha Charan

The Whisper, Emily, Silver Lady, Flying Lady, Kneeling Lady...nicknamed thus at various times, by various people, the Spirit of Ecstasy, enshrined in the figure of a woman in fluttering robes, is a mascot which has adorned the radiator of almost every Rolls Royce since antiquity. But one question remains unanswered -- why does the figurine have her fingers to her lips? This answer lies in a story that forms one of the most poignant legends of automotive history.

The story of the Spirit of Ecstasy is rooted in the secret affair between Eleanor Velasco Thornton and John Walter Edward-Scott Montagu (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car). Eleanor, a woman of unsurpassed beauty and intellect, was John Walter's secretary, and their love was to remain hidden, limited to their friends, for more than a decade. The reason being 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.

In the early 1900s, John Walter commissioned his sculptor friend Charles Robinson Sykes to create a personal mascot for his Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. The mascot was to be modeled on Eleanor, whose finger on her lips was to symbolise the secrets of their love. The figurine was consequently christened The Whisper.

Mascots had by then become the fashion of the day, and soon after The Whisper, Sykes was commissioned by Rolls Royce to create a figure that would 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... . "

Sykes presented, what we today know as the Spirit of Ecstasy, to Rolls in February 1911 -- a figurine that was easily identifiable as a variation of The Whisper. This silver plated figurine was officially listed as an optional extra, but in practice it was fitted on almost all cars after that year, becoming a standard fitting in the early 1920's.

Automobiles, however, have to change with the times, and the Spirit of Ecstasy was no exception. In 1914, the mascot began to be made with nickel or chrome alloy to dissuade frequent thefts. (Today it is made of stainless steel). The only departure from this came in the Paris car mascot competition of 1920, where a specially moulded gold-plated version took top honours. Gold-plated versions were subsequently made available from the company at a hefty charge.

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