KILLED BY MAKE-UP - TRAGIC 18th CENTURY CELEB'S MIRROR AUCTIONED
She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence. But her beauty - and her vanity - led to her demise as the lead-based make-up she insisted on plastering on daily resulted first in the loss of her looks, then deadly blood poisoning. Now the grand 7ft mirror in which Maria Gunning, the former Countess of Coventry, admired her stunning reflection has been auctioned off for more than £300,000. Labelled the first victim of vanity, Maria died aged 27 in 1760 after her love of make-up resulted in her untimely death. The 253-year-old mirror sold well above its estimate even though her condition meant she the society hostess used it for a matter of just months. A glorious George II giltwood overmantel design, it was bought for her by her husband The Sixth Earl of Coventry in 1759, who is said to have been so frustrated by his wife's love of make up that he would chase her around the dinner table with a handkerchief, trying wipe it from her face.
Other great stories
THE F-ANT-ASTIC ARTISTS
Exibiting their superhuman strength these ants look ready to create an art attack by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight .
SLEEP PARALYSIS DREAMS TURNED REALITY
SITTING on a burning sofa unable to move, one man turns his terrifying dreams into reality .
BOSTON BOMBING AFTERMATH - 17TH APRIL
At least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .
WORLD’S LARGEST JIGSAW
Made up of 40,000 pieces, putting in over 200 hours of work and blunting endless blades, this is the final result for the world’s largest jigsaw, finally finished on Wednesday .
THE DEVIL'S OWN GOAL: CLUB RENAMES STADIUM IN SATAN'S NAME
football club has scored an own goal after it had to embarrassingly rename its stadium in honour of the DEVIL .
MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS
These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create .
A GRIZZLY GANG
PAWS for thought as you feast your eyes on this rare bear bathing session .
POOCHES POSE IN THEIR ELABORATE HEADSCARF COLLECTION
WRAPPED up in classy headscarves, these adorable pooches are the picture of sophistication .
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE? COUPLE TIE THE KNOT UNDERWATER
A diving mad couple have finally taken the plunge, having tied the knot 30ft underwater .
BABY-FACED BURGLAR NABBED BY JAFFA CAKE
A BABY-faced burglar is starting a seven year stretch in custody after being nabbed by a Jaffa Cake .
MAN AND NATURE
LEAF-ing much to the imagination, this camera trickery is blooming marvellous .
CHINESE FISHERMEN FISHING WITH RARE TECHNIQUE
SAILING peacefully across a river in the early morning light, a fisherman in China keeps a 1000 year old tradition alive .