Ah, the price of beauty...
Maria Gunning was born in 1733 to a humble family in central
England. But the family soon moved to a
meager rental house in Dublin. To help the
family get by, Maria and her younger sister Elizabeth worked as actresses in local playhouses, which
was a somewhat dubious profession (actresses were often known to make other
"professional income" on the side.) But
it earned them a little celebrity, and an invitation to a grand ball at Dublin Castle. Unfortunately, they had no dresses sufficient
for such an occasion. So they reached
out to a local theater manager, who let them pull a few things off his costume
rack. Attending the ball dressed as Lady
Macbeth and Juliet, Maria and Elizabeth were presented to the Earl of
Harrington, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was so struck by their innocence and beauty he took pity upon the
Gunning family and paid for their relocation back to England.
There the girls were a sensation. They were, in the vernacular
of the day, "hotties." Soon after, they
were attending events in London. When
they were presented to the Court of St. James, the event was covered by the national newspapers. Pop went the Gunning
sisters! Within a year, Elizabeth had
married the Duke of Hamilton and had moved to a castle in Scotland. In 1752, Maria bagged an even bigger prize:
George William Coventry, the 6th Earl of Coventry, Viscount
Deerhurst, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, a Lord of the Bedchamber of King
George II and a peer in the House of Lords. The couple were married (he was 30, she was 19) and took a honeymoon
trip to Paris. When they returned to
London, Maria was mobbed by adoring fans, and had to be escorted through Hyde
Park by the King's Guard. She was now
regarded as the most beautiful woman in the country.
But as quickly as the marriage was underway, things got ugly. Maria loved and courted the publicity, but
her husband found it vulgar. She would
dress up, he would dress her down. She
would cover her face in white powder and rouge, he would wipe it off. Maria's face soon broke out, and she used more makeup to cover it up. Frustrated,
George turned his affections to a mistress; Maria turned her affections to
her adoring public. She wore gaudier
dresses, glitzier jewelry, and more makeup than ever.
In the end, her vanity proved to be her downfall. While still in her mid-twenties, Maria became
sick. Doctors were called in, but could
not diagnose the cause. No amount of
costuming or makeup could conceal the fact that she was dying. The papers were soon reporting that she didn't
have long to live. And so it came to
pass: 250 years ago today, the star who had
blazed so brightly across London's social scene, flamed out at the age of 27.
The culprit? Well, as
Sherlock Holmes might have said, it was the Makeup That Did It. You see, the rouge of the day was based on a lead
foundation. All that applying and wiping
of toxic lead powder on her face resulted in an acute and fatal case of blood poisoning.
Maria Gunning, Countess of Coventry: Society superstar, fashion victim.
You can read previous installments of
the quick Sliver in our online archive. Just go here: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs015/1103023679528/archive/1103033975377.html
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