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.
POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .
Britons have finally received some good news about the weather with temperatures expected to reach 30 degrees this weekend .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
An American woman whose skin turned silver after using nose drops is warning people of the dangers of medicines containing the metal .
A mother is living in fear after the stalker she holds responsible for her daughter's death is back on the streets, after serving just one year in prison .
COVERING themselves in ash and face paint, these are the holy men who live their lives away from everyday society .
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 .
A photographer from the United Arab Emirates travelled to Pakistan where he captured the lives of local people in a series of expressive portraits .
TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .
MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .
Pic By HotSpot Media - SWASTIKA’S SPRAYED ON MOSQUE - RACIST graffiti including swastikas have been emblazoned on a £2 .