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 DANGEROUS WORK OF SULPHUR MINERS
These are the men with one of the most unpleasant jobs in the world .
PREGOREXIC MUM GIVES BIRTH TO HEALTHY BABY
A mum who weighed just 8st 1lb at eight months pregnant has battled her eating disorder to give birth to a healthy baby girl .
GOOGLEMAP WHALESHARKS
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .
INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF INDIANS
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .
PHANTOM PREGNANCY NEARLY STOLE MY BABY DREAM
A young mum has told how a phantom pregnancy almost destroyed her dream of having a second child .
PELT-MOBILE SPOTTED
A TAXIDERMY truck spotted in America’s Deep South could be the most gruesome wagon on the road .
MISCHIEVOUS FOX CUBS
A mischievous fox cub demonstrates his playful side by biting his sibling’s tail .
MUM SPENDS £17K ON HER REBORN BABIES
When mum-of-three Becky Tully was told she couldn’t have any more children due to health reasons, she refused to give up on having the little girl she had always wanted .
UK'S STRONGEST SCHOOLGIRL
THE UK’S STRONGEST SCHOOLGIRL attributes her success to the bendy-body condition that once left her body wracked in pain .
BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH AR' KID
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH AR' KID: A POSTAL SORTER has perfected the art of time travel by delivering images that are from the past .
RAINBOW CAVES
WELCOME to the 750-foot deep rainbow cave that leaves visitors bewildered by its multi-coloured mood lighting .
CANCER SURVIVOR STARTS STYLE BLOG FOR COLOSTOMY BAG WEARERS
A woman who battled aggressive bowel cancer has started a fashion blog offering style tips for those living with a colostomy bag .