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
BRAVE TOT ALLERGIC TO SUN
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BRAVE TOT ALLERGIC TO SUN: Leighton Brownrigg, 2 .
250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - 250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM- In Pic - The start line on the Heartlands Parkway Nechels Birmingham .
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 .
I LIKE MY SALMON ROAR!
A BROWN bear wades through waters in Alaska and waits for his lunch .
SHOOTING IN WALSALL, TWO DEAD
Two people have been arrested after a man and woman were shot dead at a house in the Midlands in the early hours of this morning .
PLAYFUL ELEPHANTS MAKE A SPLASH
WIDE EYED with a huge smile across her face, this little elephant is a picture of happiness .
DOG CAN FINALLY SEE OWNER AGAIN THANKS TO £1K FACELIFT
A dog whose forehead skin was so heavy that he was going blind has finally seen his owner again after undergoing a £1K FACELIFT .
SEALED WITH A BUBBLE KISSED
MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .
BABY WHALE AND MOTHER LAP UP TOURIST ATTENTION
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
36 YEAR AGE GAP COUPLE MISTAKEN FOR DAD AND DAUGHTER
A couple from Bristol have told that they are often mistaken for father and daughter because of their huge 36 year age gap .
DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?
Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .
TROUBLESOME PYLON MEETS EXPLOSIVE END
THIS is the EXPLOSIVE moment when a 50 metre high pylon came crashing down to earth in a rural field .