Could this cello possibly be Italian?

[cellopera]

[Michael Darnton]

There have been discussions here in the past about someone in Hungary who was popping out a lot of fake antique cellos that look like this one. Without having it in my hand that's what it looks like to me. Twenty or so years ago you could buy one from a passing "picker-player" for $5000 or so. The ones I met just shrugged when you said it was fake--they knew, and you just weren't their sucker that day. The cellos all looked different, and the same in ways exactly like this cello.