A long time ago this flower broke and the back side was later re-carved as a water chestnut. Jade was a precious stone and nothing went to waste if a jade object was damaged. The object was previously in the possession of Rudolph Voll (1911-2009) who acquired it in the 1970’s in Hong Kong. For further information about Rudolph Voll see Quick Find 5139. A similar type of flower (nr 428) is depicted in professor Cheng Te-k’un’s book ‘Jade Flowers and Floral Patterns in Chinese Decorative Art’。