SPHINX REVEALED
Some musings on that enigmatic character to be seen on your Armstrong Siddeley bonnet.

I've heard it asked, "Why a Sphinx? Where does it come from? What have they got to do with Cleopatra's Needle?" I have set out to answer these and many more questions about the Sphinx and its origins.

We must go back to the beginning, in fact to Egypt where the earliest known Sphinx was the monumental Sphinx of Giza. This was constructed during the reign of Pharaoh Kephren, c.2613-2494 B.C. The monument was a representation of the god Harmakis (Horus of the Horizon) and symbolised resurrection and also bore the face of the Pharaoh Kephren.

Physically the classical Sphinx is a lion with a human head. As far as we know, the Sphinx in Egypt was always male, and normally associated with the Pharaoh. The Sphinx usually symbolised a guardian of the sacred areas. Apart from having a human head, Sphinxes were known to have lion's heads and ram's heads. The Sphinx also personified the rules of the Pharaoh. All Egyptian examples were sculpted in the crouching position.

The well known crouching Sphinxes surrounding the so called Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames Embankment, which were used as the basis for an Armstrong Siddeley design, were in fact based on a small black basalt sphinx, bearing the cartouche of Thothmes III, which was in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle. Indeed the obelisk itself was also a memorial to Thothmes III, although originated by Queen Ha-t-asu (Hatchepsut).

Avenues of sphinx were constructed in front of Egyptian temples, again as guardians. This idea was used by the Greeks, but the Sphinx in Greek Mythology was female, winged and sculpted in the sitting position. The famous Sphinx story was that of Oedipus who encountered the Sphinx, a winged monster, whilst on the way to Thebes. The Sphinx asked Oedipus to solve a riddle on pain of death. The riddle went: "What creature alone changes the number of its feet, in the morning it goes on four feet, at midday on two, in the evening on three feet and with the fewest feet it has ever the greatest strength and swiftness". Oedipus smiled and answered thus: "The riddle is easy. It is Man, that in childhood goes on all fours, then walks firmly on two feet and in his old age must lean upon a staff". Furious, the Sphinx gave a shrill scream, flapped her gloomy wings, and vanished among the rocks, never more to be seen at Thebes.

Archaeologists seriously studied and recorded these classical symbols in the late 18th Century and by the 1850's the Sphinx in both Egyptian and Greek forms was in common use as sculptural decoration in the country houses and public buildings of Europe and North America.

The interest in Great Britain in Egyptology is personified by the amateur archaeologist, the 5th Earl of Caernarfon, who became a founder member of the RAC, and took up archaeology as a sedentary hobby following a serious motoring accident. Among his contemporaries were Nathanial and Lionel de Rothschild and also John Davenport Siddeley. Indeed, Caernarfon was an owner of an Armstrong Siddeley car in the early Twenties.

The first Sphinx used by the Siddeley-Deasy Car Company was introduced in 1912. The story goes that nearly all Siddeley Deaseys of 1912 were fitted with a silent Knight sleeve-valve engine and also bore the unusual arrangement of a coffin shaped bonnet with a bulkhead mounted radiator. One enthusiastic journalist wrote of the Siddeley Deasey on one of its road tests that its performance was "as silent and inscrutable as the Sphinx". This provided J D Siddeley with the inspiration to use the Sphinx as the Siddeley Deasey Trade mark.

The first Sphinx design was a Greek type with upright design in the sitting position. It has an Egyptian Head- dress and was a male figure with a lion's body. This type was used by Siddeley Deasey 1912 -1914 and by Armstrong Siddeley 1919-1931. The Siddeley Deasey sphinx was probably of nickel-plated brass, some prestige versions being German silvered, silver- or even gold-plated. There were probably two basic sizes of Sphinx during this time. Later examples in the late Twenties and early Thirties were made from aluminium alloys such as Mazac. The upright Sphinx was relinquished in 1932 for the new range of vehicles.

The next series were based on the Sphinxes at the London Embankment and JDS sent an artist down to sketch there. As you will remember the original was an Egyptian Sphinx at Alnwick Castle, so this style looked solidly Egyptian. Each model in the range now had a different size of Sphinx in proportion with the vehicle. By 1932 the V-radiator was also a common feature to all types.

In 1934 a new design was instituted which coincided with a new radiator cowling design. The Sphinx was no longer removable, (although this varied and some models retained a removable Sphinx until 1936). The 1936 design is perhaps the most Egyptian design of all and in many ways looks the most authentically archaic. This style persisted up to 1939 though some of the later types were less finely modelled.

In 1945 the post war 16hp model had a horizontal slatted radiator and this was touched off by a stamped out Sphinx, in fact a long curved hollow strip with raised head. This design featured on the 16 / 18hp models from 1945 -53. The same design but with different dimensions featured on the Sapphire 234 / 236. These designs were made of chrome-plated brass.

The 346 mascot used from 1953 to 1959 reflected the Armstrong Siddeley aeronautical tradition. The Sphinx has a clearly smiling face with a boxer's nose and is flanked by wings surmounted by jet engines similar to those on the Gloster Meteor. I feel that this is the most humorous looking Sphinx and has a jaunty look on its vehicle. The figure is reclining.

The Star Sapphire Sphinx was a finer thing. The smallest of the reclining style, barely 3 inches long. Of archaic design but not so finely detailed as the Thirties design, this type was usually chrome but one or two have been gold-plated.

On the 346 there was a specialised Sphinx as seen on the Harold Radford conversion. This was a classical Greek female Sphinx with feathered wings and the figure was in the sitting position.

The Sphinx was used on Siddeley cars for forty eight years. This included six basic designs. Other designs of Sphinx were available from the personalised mascot producers. A silver plated on bronze example was produced in 1918 to the Greek design. A winged Sphinx was also produced by the firm of Rolland Pilian from 1919-1931.

Try this example test if you can: first remove the Sphinx from your car, or cover it over. The magic of the vehicle starts to fade, put the Sphinx back and once again the majestic proportions of your car are restored. For the Sphinx definitely sets off to a tee the proportions of the car it sits on.

So, as you can see, inscrutability and silence have been exhibited on the front of Armstrong Siddeleys and Siddeley Deaseys for nearly a century. One thing is clear - without the Sphinx there would be a very empty bonnet.