For more than a century, the "Goddess of Celebration", one of the most recognizable logos, has stood elegantly on top of every Rolls-Royce car. She is world-famous and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the world's speculation and discussion of her story has never stopped.
As Rolls-Royce enters a new era of electrification, looking back at the classic past of this century-old logo can be described as a historical response to the world's public opinion. This classic history is written by four legendary figures who have different backgrounds, different personalities, intertwined life encounters, and achieved this world-famous logo in the ups and downs of the world.
The four protagonists of this legend are:
• John Montague (full name: John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montague; Baron Montague II, 1866-1929).
Montague is one of the most famous pioneers in the automotive industry and the publisher of The Carlllustrated magazine. Its ancestral home is New Forrest, where the National Automobile Museum is located.
• Claude Johnson (full name: Claude Goodman Johnson; 1864-1926)
Claude Johnson was the secretary general of the British and Irish Motor Club, the predecessor of the Royal Automobile Club. In 1903, Claude Johnson teamed up with Charlie Rouse. He was a gifted communications expert with a keen business acumen who once called himself a linker in the middle of Rolls-Royce.
• Eleanor Thornton (full name: Eleanor Velasco Thornton; 1880-1915)
Eleanor Thornton is a key character in the story of "The Goddess of Celebration". Eleanor started out as an actor and dancer and was also An assistant to Claude Johnson. In 1902, she became Head of Office affairs for Lord Montague. She was a model and inspirational muse for illustrator and sculptor Charles Sykes.
Charles Sykes (full name: Charles Robinson Sykes; 1875–1950)
Charles Sykes is an illustrator and sculptor who has worked for Lord Montague and Claude Johnson. His advertising and magazine covers, under the stage name Killette, have become recognized as masterpieces of art.
Encounters abound
In 1902, John Montague, who was both a freelance journalist and a car enthusiast, founded The Car Illustrated, Britain's first automobile magazine, and hired Charles Sykes as chief illustrator. Around the same time, Montague's friend Claude Johnson hired a young woman named Eleanor Thornton as an assistant to the auto club. Claude Johnson himself is the secretary general of the auto club.
When Montague meets eleanor, who is clever and beautiful, he falls in love with her and offers her the job of head of the magazine's office. Eleanor accepted the job offer. The aristocratic publisher and his new colleague, Eleanor, who was born in south London and is 14 years younger than him, began a 13-year relationship. This warm and sincere love affair is destined, but it is secretive.
Eleanor Thornton
Eleanor became pregnant in 1903. She and Lord Montagu decided that adoption after the birth of a child would be the best arrangement. When Eleanor took joan, the newborn baby girl, to Montague, he told him to "never mention the child's name again." Eleanor has never seen her child again, but Montague, the father of the child, has not chosen not to meet. Montague first arranged for a former sergeant couple in his regiment to raise Joan together, and then a doctor couple adopted Joan. In the years that followed, Montagu often visited his daughter, but she thought he was just Uncle John. Montagu did everything in his power to finance his daughter within a proper and confidential scope.
A muse of classics
It is at this stage that the story line begins to converge. Sykes and Eleanor got to know each other while working at The Car Illustrated magazine. In fact, they already knew each other before that. A few years ago, Eleanor briefly took up residence at The Pheasantry, an artists' colony on King's Road in Chelsea, London. There, she lived a mysterious two-sided life: working as Claude Johnson's assistant at the Auto Club during the day and transforming into a dancer and model at night. She often works as a creative model for artists such as Charles Sykes.
Although Montague hired Sykes to work as a magazine illustrator, Sykes was also a talented sculptor under the tutelage of Edward Lantairi, a renowned professor at the Royal College of Art. In 1903, he carved a trophy based on Eleanor for Montague to compete in Gordon Bennett. Another of Sykes's works, Bacchante, the Priestess of Dionysus, has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts and the Paris Salon. The appearance and figure of the priestess in the painting are also strikingly similar to the muse in his heart.
Charles Sykes with his daughter
During this period, Sykes created a logo for Montague's Rolls-Royce Gintama. It is a small aluminum statue, named "Whisper", in the form of a young woman in a flowing robe, with her index finger lightly pressed against her lips. It was later confirmed that Eleanor was the prototype of the sculptural figure. However, it is still unknown whether the logo was Sykes's thank you to friends and employers, or whether it was entrusted by Eleanor as a gift to his lover. Whatever the truth, Montague placed the logo on every of his Rolls-Royce cars until his death in 1929. Perhaps the statue is a veiled expression of his years of deep love for Eleanor.
It is widely believed that the "Whisper" statue is the inspiration for the "Celebratory Goddess". Therefore, it can be further inferred that Eleanor Thornton is the prototype of the "goddess of celebration". This is a reasonable claim, and the many similarities between the two sculptures support this view. It's just that the story behind the birth of the sculpture is not as clear and clear as the appearance of the statue.
Got to know Rolls-Royce
In 1910, Eleanor's former employer Claude Johnson reappeared in the story. He quit his job at the Auto Club and became General Manager of Rolls-Royce. The company was founded by his former business partner Charles Stewart Rolls and distinguished engineer Henry Rice.
Claude Johnson
Rice believed that the logo pattern on the front cover of the engine that Rolls-Royce intended to choose at that time was too tacky, such as the common patterns such as black cat, devil, and funny policeman, which gave him a headache. Claude Johnson proposed a new idea, proposing that Rolls-Royce should create a very exclusive style of car logo, which should be a plus for Rolls-Royce cars. Eventually, with Rice's consent, Johnson commissioned Charles Sykes to create the logo through Montague's introduction.
Johnson's mind has sketched out the prototype of the car logo. During a trip to Paris, he was blown away by the Greek marble sculpture "The Goddess of Victory in Samothrace", which was created in 190 BC and exhibited at the Louvre since 1883. The sculpture is 2.75 meters high and depicts a deity with its wings outstretched, and its dress fluttering in the wind and falling from the sky. Unfortunately, the body shape left by this bottle of sculpture over time has lost its head and arms.
"I want the logo to be as beautiful as the goddess of victory. Go and admire this statue. Johnson told Sykes that Sykes looked at the sculpture, but immediately thought that the goddess of victory gave people too strong a sense of combat, and it was not appropriate as a Rolls-Royce car logo. Sykes has traveled many times on Montague's Gintama, and he firmly believes that the elegant, ethereal image can better convey the spirit of Rolls-Royce - the ultimate elegance, quiet and stable but with connotation and surging power. Once again, Eleanor Thornton was the inspiration for this time.
Although Eleanor is most likely the prototype for the overall image of the "Goddess of Celebration", her facial image may have come from another person, as the face of the logo resembles Sykes's mother, Hannah Robinson Sykes. Sykes was very close to his mother. From this, there is a speculation: this legendary logo is created by Sykes's ideal female image and artistic aesthetic, using imagination.
"Celebratory Goddess" name
The new logo designed by Sykes was originally named "Goddess of Speed". Today's name first appeared in Rolls-Royce's letter to John Montague. In the letter, Rolls-Royce expressed the hope that the logo designed would convey "the spirit of Rolls-Royce – fast and silent, smooth and quiet, hidden with great energy, elegant and lifelike".
The letter also mentions that when Sykes created the "elegant little goddess", what came to mind was "the elegant and exquisite 'celebratory goddess' standing on the front of the Rolls-Royce car, drunk on the trip, the breeze along the way, swaying and swaying".
In 1911, Rolls-Royce registered the "Goddess of Celebration" as intellectual property rights. It is worth mentioning that the registered logo was not fully recognized by the two founders: Sir Henry Rice did not like any of the logos, and Charles Rouse failed to witness the birth of the logo- Charles Rouse died in a flight accident in June 1910. The "Goddess of Celebration" came out after this. She survived thanks to Claude Johnson's foresight, sensitivity, and great strength of personality.
His intuition was confirmed - in 1920, Rolls-Royce took the "Goddess of Celebration" to the World Car Championship held in Paris, and the "Goddess of Celebration" won the championship and won the gold medal.
What most people don't know is that until 1939, the "Goddess of Celebration" existed as an optional configuration. Of the approximately 20,000 Rolls-Royce vehicles delivered during this period, only 40% of them were equipped with this logo. This is somewhat a reflection of Sir Henry's dislike of the logo, although many of these models were later modified.
Times
In the original version in 1911, the "Goddess of Celebration" was elegant and slender, with a net height of 6 and 7/8 inches (about 18 centimeters). By the 1960s, the "Goddess of Celebration" had been replaced by eight versions, 4 and 5/16 inches (about 11 centimeters) tall, and compact. The distance from the tip of the nose to the flying robe of the "Goddess of Celebration" was correspondingly reduced from 5 inches to 3 inches. Over the decades, the shape of the pedestal, the posture of the goddess, and even the precise inclination of the "wings" have changed subtly.
The 1934-1959 model changes were more bold, using a kneeling "goddess of celebration". Some customers thought this was more suitable for the custom design of the body at that time.
In the 1970s, for safety reasons, some countries banned signs that protruded from the front of the car. In Switzerland, the "goddess of celebration" can only be stored in the front cover of the car. Rolls-Royce has ingeniously designed a spring-loaded base that allows the logo to be hidden in the radiator with a light touch, making it simple, safe and elegant. The "Goddess of Celebration" telescopic device makes the rising movement elegant and smooth, also known as the "soar", and has become the standard in every Goodwood handcrafted Rolls-Royce car.
Renewed again
Since 1911, each "Goddess of Celebration" logo has been cast and hand-carved by Charles Sykes himself, which is one of the places where the logo is moving. Charles's daughter Josephine took over the casting work in 1928 until the outbreak of war in 1939. Therefore, each "celebratory goddess" logo produced during this period is different, showing infinite subtlety in every detail.
Today, experts in Southampton, England, use the "dewaxing casting process" to create the "Goddess of Celebration". This more than 5,000-year-old classical technique and classic raw materials can still complement the contemporary technology of the 21st century through the torrent of time.
Each statue is based on a computer-generated, three-dimensional image, which can be described as an initial digital representation. Rolls-Royce's skilled craftsmen handcraft solid casting molds using images and knives measuring just 0.2 mm in size, ensuring that the smallest details are accurately reproduced. A highly accurate "Goddess of Celebration" wax mold is remade by casting and coating with ceramics. After the coating dries, the wax layer melts and removes, leaving a perfect casting mold.
Each "Goddess of Celebration" logo is made of molten stainless steel poured at a high temperature of 1600 °C. After the molten steel is cooled, the mold is opened, and the "Celebratory Goddess" is dazzling and dazzling. The castings are then sandblasted with millions of stainless steel balls with a diameter of only 0.04 mm, and the surface is polished without wear. After machining, a final mirror polish and rigorous quality checks, the "Goddess of Celebration" is finished, standing on Rolls-Royce's iconic grille.
In 2020, Rolls-Royce launched a new graphic visual design of "Celebrating Goddess" - "Glimpse". "Glimpses" are computer-generated and match the brand's new image in a modern minimalist form. The new "Glimpse" design adapts to the network environment, transforming the elegant figure of the "Celebrating Goddess" statue into a parallel curve, flowing and full of dynamic beauty. Both the "Goddess of Celebration" statue and the flat digital figure "Glimpse" line are silky and smooth, showing a solidified sense of movement.
Now, Rolls-Royce Has announced that the "Goddess of Celebration", designed for the brand's first electric car, the Shining, will also be renewed. With a far more fluid shape and elegant temperament than usual, it leads the peak of the aerodynamic performance of the Rolls-Royce brand and dazzlingly illuminates the electric future of the Rolls-Royce brand.
The first Rolls-Royce "Shining" prototype had a drag coefficient of just 0.26. In the 2022 product detail test protocol, the drag coefficient is expected to be further refined.
Eternal remembrance
On 30 December 1915, Lord Montague and Eleanor Thornton crossed the Mediterranean Sea on the SS Persia passenger ship of the P&O Steamship Company to India. The two stay in the first class box and have lunch together. The trip began with Lord Montague being appointed Chief Mechanical Transport Officer of the British Army, and Eleanor planned to disembark at Port Tussard and return to England.
However, on the way, the SS Persia passenger ship was hit by a torpedo and sank to the bottom of the sea in less than five minutes. Hundreds of passengers, including Eleanor Thornton, were tragically killed.
Lord Montagu was lucky enough to be rescued. He suffered a broken shoulder and damaged lungs, and after 38 hours in a lifeboat, he was eventually rescued by a passerby along with other survivors. Lord Montague, who was invited by the Governor of Malta to recuperate there, read his obituary in a London newspaper, and for a moment felt absurd and sad.
The grief of Eleanor's tragic death hung over Lord Montagu forever. Deep affection, although it cannot be proclaimed to the public. For the rest of his life, lord Montague, while driving a Rolls-Royce, will always be remembered by Eleanor Velasco Thornton.
Background information:
Rolls-Royce Automotive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, is two completely independent companies with Rolls-Royce plc, a manufacturer of aircraft engines and propulsion systems. Rolls-Royce Motor's headquarters and manufacturing facility, located in Goodwood, West Sussex, UK, employs more than 2,000 skilled employees and is the only source of handcrafted Rolls-Royce ultra-luxury cars.
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