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.
Primed and ready for action, this collection of striking images from the battlefield could be mistaken for authentic photos taking during World War II .
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
EXPERTLY camouflaged, this clever panther chameleon knows how to catch its prey by surprise .
With no luck at the front of the bus, the deer runs around the center seats trying to escape through the window – THIS is the astonishing moment a DEER crashed through the front windshield of a bus before it went hysterically running around the vehicle .
HUNDREDS of colour coordinated yarns lie abandoned in this once thriving textile mill .
Recovering from a rare form of breast cancer, Deborah Barnett, 43, of Stoke-on-Trent, thought she'd made it through the worst, but she was betrayed by former colleague Sandra Ramsay, of Mow Cop Road, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent .
A couple have got engaged after the bride-to-be’s boyfriend set her a Facebook ‘likes’ challenge .
An artist has NAILED IT by creating beautiful and perfectly precise artwork using a hammer and 30,000 nails .
THESE BREATH-TAKING photographs show the natural beauty of Iceland's most famous waterfall .
THIS unique holiday accommodation allows you to enjoy a full Flintstones experience .
A Canadian woman who is obsessed with all things mythical has had her ears cut and shaped to look like an ELF .
A restaurant famed for creating the 3lb cheeseburger has unveiled its latest culinary challenge – the largest chilli cheese hotdog in Europe .