Ecstasy

4 February, 1911

On this day, sculptor Charles Sykes delivered a small statue to the car manufacturer Rolls-Royce. It depicted a winged woman and was destined to become the hood ornament on the manufacturer’s cars. Sykes called the statue the “Spirit of Ecstasy.” It is probably the most exclusive statue in the automotive industry.

I remember visiting my cousin Maarten in Nijmegen sometime in the mid-1970s. We were both about ten years old. Maarten had discovered a Rolls-Royce driving around his hometown. He knew exactly where the owner lived and suggested we cycle over to catch a glimpse of this magnificent vehicle. I was happy to oblige.

It’s strange, but I remember that bike ride through the gentle hills of East Nijmegen. Eventually, Maarten stopped and pointed to a house on the other side of the road. It belonged to the Rolls-Royce’s owner. We stood there for a while, but no one appeared to take a ride in the luxury car. Then we cycled back home.

Ever since, I’ve had a thing about Rolls-Royces. In London, you regularly see a Maserati or a Ferrari, and I always wonder how on earth you can you get in or out of one without back pain - and shrug. However, whenever I see a Rolls-Royce, I pause with a certain respect and feel like messaging my cousin Maarten, but that’s a bit excessive.

Incidentally, the Spirit of Ecstasy wasn’t the first figurine Sykes designed for a Rolls-Royce. A few years earlier, Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, a true car enthusiast, had commissioned Sykes to design a figurine for his own Rolls-Royce. Sykes based his design on the actress Eleanor Thornton, the baron’s mistress. A little finger rested on the angel’s mouth alluding to their clandestine relationship and it was nicknamed “the whisperer.”

When Rolls-Royce commissioned Sykes for a custom statuette, once again he used Thornton as a model. Over the years, the design was occasionally modified. For example, once she was turned into a kneeling angel to make the her somewhat smaller. But it was ultimately decided that the original Spirit of Ecstasy was the right one, and it still graces the car manufacturer’s hoods today.

Thornton’s story isn’t a happy one. In 1915, during the height of the First World War, she was traveling with her lover to India (where Montagu was to have a significant military role) when their ship was torpedoed. Thornton drowned, Montagu survived.

In Beaulieu, just south of Southampton, where Montagu had a country house, there’s now a unique car museum. Numerous Rolls-Royces are on display, but even better are the various statues that have adorned their hoods over the decades. Next to the Whisperer and the discontinued kneeling angel, pride of place is given to the Spirit of Ecstasy.