Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Book in excellent unread/unused condition. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> The mascots emblems and ornaments that adorn automobiles boast a history nearly as rich and captivating as the motorcar itself. In the early days of motoring drivers often personalized their vehicles with mascots?some whimsical others less fitting. To curb this trend manufacturers like Rolls-Royce began preemptively equipping cars with branded figurines or emblems. From 1904 to 1910 Rolls-Royce models featured a simple unadorned radiator cap?until the arrival of Charles Sykes a sculptor whose legacy would become inseparable from the brand. Born in 1875 in Brotton a village nestled between the Yorkshire Moors and Teesside Sykes studied at Newcastle?s Rutherford College before earning a scholarship to London?s Royal College of Art. Under the patronage of his close friend John Montagu the Second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu Sykes flourished as an artist. He crafted a bronze statuette of a bacchante (a devotee of Bacchus) displayed at the Royal Academy painted a triptych for Beaulieu Abbey and designed covers for Montagu?s magazine The Car. Sykes who also worked under pseudonyms like Rilette and Jacques d?Or soon caught the attention of Claude Johnson Managing Director of Rolls-Royce. In 1910 Johnson commissioned Sykes to illustrate the Rolls-Royce catalog?a collaboration that marked the beginning of an iconic partnership. Though the text halts here this moment foreshadowed Sykes? most enduring contribution: the Spirit of Ecstasy the sleek figurine that would later crown Rolls-Royce radiators symbolizing elegance and motion. Through Sykes? artistry the motorcar transcended machinery becoming a canvas for myth and prestige. (OS)