Spirit of Ecstasy

This must be the most widely travelled statuette in the world: Spirit of Ecstasy, created by Charles Robinson Sykes for Rolls-Royce. The official "Silver Lady" mascot first appeared on a Rolls-Royce car in February 1911. Yesterday, to mark this 100th birthday, Rolls-Royce held a centenary drive around London with more than 100 of its cars visiting places important to the history of the firm. CLICK for a BBC slide show. The title link offers the background to this English icon, which began with the second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and his relationship with vivacious beauty Eleanor Velasco Thornton.