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Charles Robinson Sykes (December 18, 1875–1950) was an English sculptor, better known for designing the
Spirit of EcstasyThe Spirit of Ecstasy is the name of the hood ornament on Rolls-Royce cars. It is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her...
mascot which is used on
Rolls-RoyceThis a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
cars. He was born in
BrottonBrotton is a village in the parish of Skelton and Brotton, in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately 2.5 miles southeast of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, 16.7 miles east of Middlesbrough and 16.6 miles northwest of Whitby...
, in present day
Redcar and ClevelandThe borough of Redcar & Cleveland is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England consisting of Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Guisborough, and small towns such as Brotton, Eston, Skelton and Loftus. It had a resident population of 139,132 in 2001, and is part of the Tees...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The Spirit of Ecstasy, also called "Emily", "Silver Lady" or "Flying Lady", carries with it a story about a secret passion between
John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-MontaguJohn Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu , was a British Conservative politician and promoter of motoring....
, (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of
The Car magazine from 1902) and his secret love and the model for the emblem, Eleanor Velasco Thornton.
Sykes was commissioned by Lord Montagu to make a special mascot for his 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Sykes produced a small statue of a young woman in fluttering robes with a forefinger to her lips. It was christened "The Whisper" and is to this day unique to the Montagu family’s Rolls Royces. The statue is displayed at the
National Motor Museum, BeaulieuThe National Motor Museum is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the English county of Hampshire.- History :...
,
Beaulieu.