Origin of Zagreb knight?

Does anyone know the origin of the Zagreb ’59 knight? I’ve heard this design was introduced in the ’90s, but where does its design come from?

I became extra curious about this question after I found two vintage Soviet sets with bend-over knights. I found these Zagreb-esque knights from a ’60s Soviet set:

And I found these more tortured knights from a ’70s set:

True, neither knight looks quite like the Zagreb one—especially not the latter. But I’ve heard that the knight’s head being so vertical is a Soviet feature. But I actually don’t recall any iconic Soviet set with this feature. Do you know other historic sets that have knights with downward-facing heads?

I don't know, but check out post #225 from the thread "Knights on Parade". Very similar to Zagreb knight but looks vintage to me, so maybe there's something there?

Fascinating! They look like the Zagreb and the Catalan knights had a baby.

It is a variant of the 1950 Dubrovnik chess set design.

I know, but that doesn’t explain the knight design. It seems to have no connection to any of the Dubrovnik sets or Zagreb; it almost seems a random addition, except the downward-facing knights are said to be a Soviet feature. But I’m wondering if it has become known as a Soviet feature due to the Zagreb knight, rather than having a deeper historical significance.