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.
When couples talk about wanting a white wedding, few will be referring to getting hitched on a glacier sat on top of an active volcano .
A cheeky chipmunk offers some of his spare food, before deciding against the idea and shoving the extra peanut into his already crammed mouth .
A Game of Thrones obsessed couple have fallen in love after meeting at a comic convention dressed as lovestruck characters Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drago .
TWIN SISTERS from Australia have taken their sisterly bond to the extreme by spending £150,000 to look IDENTICAL .
From the tails of fighter planes to black and white checked buildings, graveyards take different and unusual forms around the world .
THIS incredible shimmer of silver fish mirrors the image of that of an underwater tornado .
HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .
While often referred to as the kings of the jungle, gorillas - for all their might - are notorious hydrophobes .
OFFERING a glimpse into the past, a mash-up of old and new photographs show how the world’s biggest cities have changed .
HIDING behind its flipper, this little seal comes over a little camera shy .