Genuine Rolls-Royce "Flying Lady" bonnet mascot or "Hood Ornament" to North American collectors

This mascot was once atop of a Rolls Royce motor car, now the delightful "Eleanor" has been skilfully mounted onto an attractive "Perspex" or Plexiglass mount. The mount has 4 small magnets inserted into the edges of the base to assist her resting on a metal shelf

The Chrome plated Brass mascot's base bears faint heavily worn impressions of the Rolls Royce Motoirs PROTECTED DESIGN mark seen on most (but not all) GENUINE R.R. mascots.

There is some minor lifting of the Chrome plate visible in my images otherwise she is in SUPERB CONDITION

One of the world's best-known motoring icons - with its origins in the New Forest

The precursor to the Rolls Royce flying lady mascot was inspired by Eleanor Thornton, secretary & secret mistress of the 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu

Lord Montagu originally commissioned artist, Charles Sykes to make a mascot for his 1909 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

Using Eleanor as a model, he produced a statue of a young woman with fluttering robes holding a finger to her lips

It was named "The Whisper" & became the icon on the Montagu family's Rolls Royces

Charles Skyes' design was later developed into the famous flying lady bonnet mascot, Spirit of Ecstasy

First registered by Charles Skyes on Feb 6, 1911

Montagu fell in love with Eleanor, who was also known as Thorn, in 1902 when she worked for him on The Car Illustrated, his motoring magazine

Tragically Eleanor never saw the global success of the figurine

On Dec 30 1915, the P&O passenger ship, Persia on her way to India with 500 passengers onboard. Among them Lord Montagu of Beaulieu & Eleanor Thornton

The liner was the first passenger ship to be torpedoed without warning during WW1

Montagu survived thanks to his bespoke life jacket

Eleanor went down with the ship, her body was never found