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
FROZEN BUBBLES CREATE STUNNING ICE CRYSTALS
A soap bubble lands on the frosty ground and creates a shimmering snow globe as crystals form around it .
TEEN GIRL TRUCKER YOUNGEST IN UK
Blonde teen Jess Stubbs has certainly got girl power - as Britain’s youngest TRUCKER .
ADORABLE OWL EMBRACES THE 'RUNNING MAN' CHALLENGE
SKIPPING on the spot, an adorable little owl embraces the 'running man' challenge .
TERRIFIED TEACHER TALKED MURDERER OUT OF STRANGLING HER
A teacher has told how she was attacked by a murderer on her way home from a night out but courageously managed to charm him out of strangling her .
KITCHEN HORROR: I WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES AFTER HAIR CAUGHT FIRE ON GAS STOVE
In April 2018, Lourdes Cuello, 50, from New Jersey, US, was making a cup of tea when her hair and hoodie caught fire on her gas stove .
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 .
LIP FILLERS NEARLY KILLED ME
A woman left disfigured and traumatised by an addiction to lip filler injections has issued a warning to others searching for the perfect pout after the plastic chemicals nearly killed her .
REAL-LIFE LITTLE BO PEEP AGE 20 DEVOTED TO HER 4 PET SHEEP
Meet the real-life Little Bo Peep - a young woman who spends her days tending to her four pet SHEEP .
PARTNERS IN GRIME
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
BUG LOOKS JUST LIKE SATAN
This longhorn beetle demon-strates a dark side as it looks just like the devil .
HYPNOTIST JAILED FOR SEX ABUSE
A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state .
SUPER TOT – BIZARRE BABY PHOTO’S
Magical photos of your baby smiling for the first time are a priceless treasure for many a proud parent .