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
SUPER FROG - FLYING FROGS TAKE OFF

LIKE SUPERMAN carrying a slimy Lois Lane through the air this frog is treating its mate to a flying lesson .

GIRAFFES DUCK FOR COVER

DIPPING and diving their way through this bumpy journey, these giraffe's duck for cover as they dodge multiple cables and wires .

THIRSTY SQUIRREL TAKES A BREAK

DIPPING his head into the vase of water, this little squirrel takes a refreshing break from an afternoon of eating .

ABANDONED CARE HOME LIES FORGOTTEN

BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .

LOOK, NO HANDS! MAN CONTROLS VEHICLE USING HIS BRAIN

A Birmingham man inspired by sci-fi film Wall-E, has created a one- wheeled vehicle, controlled by signals from his BRAIN .

WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER £11K GASTRIC SLEEVE OP

A woman has shed half her body weight after undergoing a gastric sleeve op to shrink her stomach .

WOMAN LOSES OVER 10ST AFTER DITCHING TAKEAWAY HABIT

A Hereford woman has lost 10st 3lbs after ditching her £260-a-month takeaway habit .

FATHER-OF-ONE STUNS WIFE AFTER REVEALING POLE DANCING SECRET

A father-of-one stunned his wife of twenty-five years after revealing his secret love of POLE DANCING .

WOMAN LOSES 9ST AFTER JUNK FOOD ADDICTION LEFT HER £1.5K IN DEBT

An obese woman has lost 9st after an addiction to junk food left her £1 .

STRANDED POLAR BEAR

Sitting all alone on drift ice in the Arctic Ocean, this lonely little fella looks lost .

MIRACLE BABY SAVED BY SUPERGLUE

A miracle baby has overcome a one-in-five-million brain condition – after a blob of glue saved his life .