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
HYPER-REALISTIC DINNER IS ACTUALLY DESSERT

From a platter of finger licking chicken wings to a bowl of Chinese noodle soup, these foodie snaps are enough to make your savoury saliva glands drool .

WOMAN REVEALS HER ONE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER SUFFERED BURNS TO 22% OF HER BODY AFTER POURING BOILING MAC N’ CHEESE WATER OVER HERSELF

A mum-of-one has revealed how her one-year-old daughter suffered second and third degree burns to 22% of her body after pouring boiling water over herself .

CALIFORNIAN GHOST TOWN OF BODIE HILLS FROZEN IN TIME

An intrepid photographer travelled to the abandoned ghost town of Bodie in northern California to capture the historic buildings that are trapped in time .

SURPRISED SQUIRREL

OPEN mouthed and wide eyed this little squirrel appears startled .

LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER: PALS WITH DENNIS NILSEN AND I EVEN HAVE HIS ASHES AND GLASSES

Andrea Kubinova, 30, from London, became great friends with serial killer and necrophiliac, Dennis Nilsen .

ABANDONED CARE HOME LIES FORGOTTEN

BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .

COUPLE TIE THE KNOT IN SPECTACULAR £45K HARRY POTTER WEDDING

A couple have tied the knot in a spectacular Harry Potter-themed wedding which cost £45,000 .

ARTIST TURNS DAUGHTER'S DOODLES INTO WORKS OF ART

THIS UNUSUAL collaboration between a mother and her two-year-old daughter makes for some stunning works of art .

DOCTORS THOUGHT MY 30CM OVARIAN CYST WAS A BABY DUE TO GROWING BELLY – BUT CANCER WAS RAVISHING MY ORGANS

A woman was diagnosed with cancer after a cyst left her so bloated medics were convinced she was pregnant .

BOXING DAY SQUIRRELS

BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .

AIR OF THE DOG: HILARIOUS FLYING POOCHES

FLYING through the air, these delighted pooches pull their best poses mid-flight .

PELT-MOBILE SPOTTED

A TAXIDERMY truck spotted in America’s Deep South could be the most gruesome wagon on the road .