A LATE 17TH / EARLY 18TH CENTURY GERMAN GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF FORTUNA the nude figure in mid step, her left leg raised and balanced on the toes of her right, her arms raised and supporting her flowing drapery, raised on an ebonised, stepped plinth base, the figure 30cm high, 35cm high overall The distinctive facial features of the dancing Fortuna represent an ideal of beauty very different to ours, her round face and double chin, overly large, wide nose and heavily lidded eyes further defined by the lower eye lids as well as the upper give her an appeal far from the classical ideal. Her eyebrow hairs have been individually tooled and her hair swept back. Her physique is strong and stocky with her small breasts very close together, the nipples well cast over the delineated rib cage. The drapery has been finely tooled in places to suggest different textures and a pattern throughout, cast separately it is screwed on to the back of her left arm and the side of her left thigh, with a further separately cast part attached just below her bottom. A supporting bronze bracket has been applied to the base and screwed to her back.  These physical features show the influence of the important German sculptor Leonard Kern.