Turned maple base stained cherry.  I suffered a major case of brain lock when discussing this with customer and missed the opportunity to turn the other pieces.  Top and base from 12/4 maple.  The carving on the base was done by Ludwig Kieninger in DeSoto, Texas.  He is a real character and the stereo type of the little old Bavarian wood carver.  One of the last of the master German carvers.  I have been doing all of his turning for the last 3 years.  He hates the Russians because in WWII they ate his favorite horse and he spent 2 years as a POW in Siberia.  He may be fat, old, bald and moving slow but there is a hell of a lot of steel in him to get to 79 years old.