The internal fork crown on Alex's early Peugeot T-d-F frame is by no means unusual.
The world's most successful Pro racing team, counting the number of points attributed to placings in all counting races, including a record number of wins in the Tour de France, Alcyon, used this type of crown extensively during the 1930s. Their variation on the theme had a slightly longer cyclindrical section above the two sloping flanks and the bottom head-race. These used in conjunction with a lugless, whether bronze or fusion-welded construction, produced a very clean and elegant line.
My knowledge of the Italian cycle industry is better illustrated by what I don't know about it than what I do..so I couldn't be very precise about the date when Cinelli introduced his first internal crown, but I would hasard a guess that it was a good fifteen to twenty years after Alcyon had them.
Norris Lockley Sellte UK.