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
HEARTBREAK DIET LOST ME 11.5ST AND BAGGED ME A FELLA
When Janet Curry, 38, was told she was ‘too big to date’ by a man she met on the dating website Plenty of Fish, she didn’t let it stop her from looking for love .
SECRET POOL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT
HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .
COLOURFUL KINGFISHERS DIVE FOR THEIR DINNER
A kingfisher’s bright blue and orange feathers glisten in the sunlight as the bird dives into a lake .
WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD
The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .
PELT-MOBILE SPOTTED
A TAXIDERMY truck spotted in America’s Deep South could be the most gruesome wagon on the road .
‘PEG-LEG’ AMPUTEE OVERCOMES BULLIES TO MODEL LINGERIE
An amputee who was cruelly nicknamed 'peg-leg' by school bullies has conquered her insecurities to become a model .
AUSTRALIAN TOWN LOCATED UNDERGROUND
A mining town in Australia’s outback appears to be completely deserted, but its residents have escaped the scorching heat by living in underground caves .
BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .
MICK JAGGER'S LUXURY GLASTO YURT
FEAST your eyes onthe £3K luxury yurts that rock legend Mick Jagger will be basking in between Glastonbury performances this weekend .
SUPER CUTE BABY RED PANDAS
These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .
AN ABANDONED HOUSE IN THE WOODS
INTIMATELY showcasing personal artefacts from a family's life, this abandoned bungalow has been left to rot for almost a decade .
SCUBA-DUPER DIVER BREAKS RECORD FOR 50 HOURS UNDERWATER
A British diver has set a new world record for the longest warm water scuba dive by spending a mammoth 49 hours and 56 minutes under water .