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
WOMAN ‘DIED’ GIVING BIRTH TO HER SON DUE TO HER 19ST FRAME SO SHE LOST 8ST 13LBS AND NOW SHE’S A SIZE 8-10
At 19st and eight months pregnant, Ashley Whitfield, went into hospital to have her baby son, Isaac, delivered by emergency C-section .
WINKING SQUIRREL
BASKING in smug satisfaction, a confident squirrel gives a wink to the camera .
WOMAN RECORDED VIOLENT BF STRANGLING HER AND THREATENING TO KILL HER WITH A KNIFE- WHEN HE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER SHE SAW HIM JAILED
Gabrielle Dale, 26, was subjected to seven years of coercive control and physical abuse at the hands of her violent boyfriend Sean Owen, 29 .
SLEEPING IN THE MOONLIGHT
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .
MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE
MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare .
ENGLISH SEASIDE SPLIT SHOTS
From a floating jelly fish to a relaxed seal, Britain’s unappreciated beach life is captured above and below the water .
CROCODILE CAVE DIVING PENSIONER
THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .
BRITISH BEACH-LIFE SPLIT SHOTS
UNDERWATER and above-water seaside shots show the best of British beach-life .
WOMAN LOSES 8ST AFTER ENERGY DRINK HABIT NEARLY BLINDS HER
A diabetic who was addicted to energy drinks has lost 8st after doctors warned her habit was blinding her .
I’M NOT DRUNK, I'M A REAL LIFE SLEEPING BEAUTY!
Several times a year, Gemma, 21, can be found mumbling her words and struggling to concentrate as she walks around in a dream-like state .
ROMANIAN CELEBRATES NEW JOB AS KNIFE THROWER'S ASSISTANT
A Romanian woman is celebrating her new job as a knife-thrower’s assistant after leaving her family behind to move to the UK .