Hi Charles,
Thanks very much, this one is one of the best I've seen in the last couple years.
Returning to the lion, Jim kindly pointed me towards a similarly posed lion in Lhote found on a single fuller blade in Hoggar with a variation of the cross and orb as well.
This lion is does not contain the detail of mine, but at least shows that the shape and pose is found on other takouba. The hunt continues for a more exact match!