Bronze Inkwell With A Rampant Lion - Italy Circa 1600

Bronze inkwell decorated with a rampant lion.
Italy, probably Tuscany, circa 1600.
Very beautiful patina.

Dimensions:
Height: 10.7 cm
Length: 10.5 cm
Width: 7.7 cm

An almost identical inkwell is kept at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, see here:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/197041
This Met inkwell (ex J. Pierpont Morgan collection until 1931), long considered as Italian from the 16th century (notably by Wilhelm von Bode in 1910), has just been be republished by the museum as from Northern Europe from the 17th century. Nevertheless, we prefer to keep the Italian attribution which seems much more probable to us (the resemblance of the mascarons with that of the fontana dello Sprone in Florence seems quite eloquent to us).
Another similar inkwell is kept at the Museo Civico in Brescia and, a fourth, extremely close (already published in 1920 by Nicodemi as Italian from the 16th century), is currently offered by the Blumka Gallery in New York and given to Tuscany circa 1600.

Bibliography:
Denise Allen, Italian Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY, 2022, cat. No. 188.
Giorgio Nicodemi, Bronzi veneti del Rinascimento nel Museo dell'Età Cristiana a Brescia. Dedalo 2, 1920, p. 473.
Wilhelm von Bode, Collection of J. Pierpont Morgan: Bronzes of the Renaissance and Subsequent Periods. Paris, 1910, cat n°67.

To report : A crack at the junction between the cup and the base, however the inkwell is solid and does not move.

Provenance: a collection from the South of France.