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 POP-UP HOTEL RETURNS TO GLASTONBURY
GLAMPING is taken to a whole new level in the form of the luxurious Pop-Up Hotel .
WOMAN SAYS EATING BUBBLES WHILE PREGNANT WAS BETTER THAN SEX
A woman has told how her addiction to eating bath bubbles during her pregnancy was better than SEX .
FISHERMEN IN MYANMAR BALANCE ON ONE LEG
Fishermen in Myanmar have perfected an unusual fishing technique by carefully balancing on one leg .
MANDELA MEMORIAL
Thousands of people are gathering at a stadium in Johannesburg for a memorial service for Nelson Mandela .
THE UNEXPECTED FRIENDLY GIANT
A baby sperm whale assumed the role of a friendly giant when faced with two awestruck divers .
£34m TAX FRAUD RACKET JAILED
A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history .
BOY SURVIVES NEAR-FATAL ALLERGIC REACTION TO EPILEPSY MEDICATION
A little boy was left fighting for his life in hospital after a horrific allergic reaction to epilepsy medication made his skin fall off in chunks .
UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP
SAT happily on the branch of a tree, this little frog appears unfazed by a surprise visitor .
EYE-CATCHING TRIBAL HAIRSTYLES
BRAIDED, sculpted and beaded, these are the eye-catching hairstyles worn by the tribal women of Angola .
ANGRY GIRAFFE DESTROYS BIKE
AN ANGRY giraffe gave a bush-riding cyclist a scare when he stomped his £2K bike into the dirt .
THE DOCTOR WON'T SEE YOU NOW
ONCE A doctor’s surgery, family home and office, an array of medical equipment is scattered throughout this abandoned home .
MAN LOSES 20 STONE AFTER FOOD ADDICTION RUNS UP £15K DEBT
A man has lost an incredible 20st after his addiction to food left him £15k in debt .