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
WOMAN LOSES OVER 10ST AFTER DITCHING TAKEAWAY HABIT
A Hereford woman has lost 10st 3lbs after ditching her £260-a-month takeaway habit .
AMAZING THUNDERSTORM LIGHTS UP THE SARDINIAN COAST
POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .
BIKINI DIVER SWIMS WITH SHARKS
ARMED with her camera, bikini and flippers, this brave diver goes swimming with SHARKS .
ADORABLE SHELTER DOGS STRIKE A ‘PAWS’ TO FIND FOREVER HOMES
A group of shelter dogs showcase their loveable personalities in a series of passport-style photographs - in the hope of finding their forever homes .
LEFT LOOKING LIKE QUASIMODO AFTER JEALOUS LOVE RIVAL WHACKED ME IN THE HEAD WITH A HAMMER
In May 2021, on the night when Jayde Logan, 31, rekindled her relationship with her ex, she ended up scarred for life .
WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR
HOTSPOT MEDIA - WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR: WHILE most workers endure commuting chaos by road or rail everyday, one entrepreneur has come up with a novel way to get to the office - by KAYAK .
MODEL SPENDS £22K TO TRANSFORM HER ENTIRE BODY
A GLAMOUR model who has spent £22K on cosmetic procedures is hoping that a revolutionary new treatment to give her a designer vagina will end her quest for perfection .
WOMAN LEFT SCARRED FOR LIFE AFTER HER CHILDHOOD FRIEND BATTERED HER WITH A COSH AND BROKE HER NOSE IN VICIOUS ATTACK
A mum-of-two has revealed how her childhood friend of 20 years attacked her with a cosh and broke her nose in a vicious attack .
PAWS FOR THOUGHT: POLAR BEAR RELAXES IN SNOW
STARING intently into the camera, a polar bear appears to be lost in thought while relaxing in the snow .
ROAD KILL ON THE MENU
A ROAD KILL munching Scot has chewed on everything from a dead squirrel to an unlucky crow – all in the name of art .
PENSIONER’S 100K MILK BOTTLE COLLECTION
FOR someone who hates milk, pensioner Steve Wheeler has got an udder-lot of it - nearly 20,000 bottles in fact .