The surface is incised on one side with a Buddha; the reverse is incised with Virūḍhaka (Guardian of the South, 南方增长天王).
Note:
The origins of this type of bronze Buddhist plaque can be traced back to line-engraved bronze mirrors from the Wuyue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties period. According to Wang Mu’s study, Line-Engraved Bronze Mirrors Unearthed in China and Related Issues, approximately twenty such mirrors have been discovered in China. They date primarily from the late Five Dynasties/early Northern Song periods through the Liao and Jin dynasties.

Sixteen mirrors with documented provenances were found in locations including Hangzhou, Dongyang, and Huangyan (Zhejiang); Suzhou (Jiangsu); Changsha (Hunan); Xuanhua (Hebei); Qingzhou (Inner Mongolia); Acheng (Heilongjiang); and Fuxin (Liaoning)——areas largely corresponding to the territories of the Wuyue Kingdom and the Liao and Jin dynasties. Most were unearthed from Buddhist pagodas and tombs.

The engraved motifs invariably feature Buddhist themes or imagery related to religious offerings, underscoring their function as devotional objects. Notably, the "Mirror of Lady Liu Qiniang"—unearthed from a Song-dynasty tomb in the suburbs of Changsha, Hunan, and featuring an engraving of Guanyin standing on a lotus, has a small hole along its rim, likely intended for securing the mirror within the tomb or for suspension during the propagation of the Buddhist faith. The short handle on the present piece likely served a similar purpose.

Among the finds from the Lingshi Temple in Huangyan City, a site that yielded six bronze mirrors featuring incised designs and date inscriptions, five bear images of Buddhist figures, specifically Shakyamuni Buddha, his disciples, and the Four Heavenly Kings. Huangyan is located in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, a region where Buddhism flourished; it was the birthplace of the Tiantai school, which subsequently spread widely to Japan and Korea. The bronze mirrors recovered from the Lingshi Temple pagoda had been enshrined within the pagoda's internal compartments or in iron reliquary caskets. The placement of four mirrors depicting the Four Heavenly Kings within the pagoda mirrors the practice of painting guardian kings at the four corners of Buddhist grottoes to protect the site.

Bronze mirrors were believed to ward off evil spirits, and since the Four Heavenly Kings served as protectors of the Dharma, their inclusion further enhanced the mirrors' apotropaic function. It can be inferred that the piece depicting Virūḍhaka (the Heavenly King of the South) was originally part of a complete set.

Furthermore, traces of wind and sand erosion on the surface of the plaque suggest it was not enshrined indoors but hung from the eaves—a practice consistent with archaeological findings from the Liao and Jin dynasties.

Based on existing archaeological evidence, while the line-engraved mirrors from the Liao and Jin dynasties were primarily recovered from pagodas and tombs, they were typically hung on the exterior of Buddhist pagodas or embedded in the ceilings of burial chambers.

For instance, the White Pagoda at Qingzhou in the Bairin Right Banner of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, features over eight hundred circular and lozenge-shaped bronze mirrors inlaid into its body. A bronze mirror discovered within the sarira casket of the "Xumicang" Stone Sutra Pagoda at Yunju Temple in Fangshan, Beijing—now held by the Capital Museum—features a short handle with a drilled hole, indicating it was also intended for suspension. Similarly, among the six bronze mirrors unearthed from the Zhangjiayingzi tomb in Jianping County, Liaoning Province, five were hung on the chamber walls, and one was suspended from the ceiling. Furthermore, in the Zhang family Liao tomb complex in Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, many bronze mirrors retain traces of iron bars, iron hooks, or wooden blocks on their knobs, all of which served as suspension mechanisms.

Compare the Liao dynasty bronze plaque with a linear-engraved image of a Buddha formerly in the collection of Jin Shen; it is illustrated in Complete Collection of Buddhist Art (Vol. 6): Appraisal and Collection of Buddhist Images, pp. 30–31, and Ancient Buddhist Images from Two Collections: The Taihuazhai Collection, p. 70. It was later offered at the China Guardian auction on November 15, 2011, Lot 3990, with an estimated value of RMB 800,000–1,200,000.

Another example, a Liao Dynasty bronze double-sided plaque with incised Buddha figures, sold for HKD 288,000 at Wanchangsi, Hong Kong, on November 29, 2018, Lot 7850. Compare also a silver-gilt bronze plaque featuring a Buddha flanked by two Bodhisattvas, sold for €60,855 at the Bonhams, Paris auction of the Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset family collection of Asian art on October 25, 2022, lot 40.

長方形，一面刻坐佛，一面刻增长天王，细如游絲，若隱若現，上沿焊梯形短柄，中有孔，當爲懸挂之用，兩面俱有侵蝕，天王像一面風痕甚重，可能向外懸于簷下。

這種銅佛板的起源大約是五代吳越囯的綫刻銅鏡。据王牧《中国境内所出的线刻铜镜及相关问题》，中国境内所出线刻镜约二十面，时代集中于五代末至北宋初和辽、金时期，有明确出土地的十六面分别出自今浙江杭州、东阳、黄岩、江苏苏州、湖南长沙、河北宣化、内蒙古庆州、黑龙江阿城、辽宁阜新——多爲五代吴越国及辽、金辖境，且多出土于佛塔和墓葬。线刻纹饰均爲佛教题材或供养内容，供品特性顯著。

其中，出土于湖南长沙郊外宋墓、刻有踏莲观音的“刘氏七娘镜”边缘有小洞，当为固定在墓中或弘扬佛法的悬挂之用。本品的短柄用途相似。

在线刻镜集中的发现地——出有六面帶纪年线刻镜的黄岩市灵石寺中，五面线刻有佛像，分别刻释迦佛、弟子及四天王像。黄岩地处浙江台州，佛教发达，天台宗發源於此，遠播日韓。灵石寺塔所出的銅鏡供奉于塔内隔層或鐵函。寺塔中放置四面线刻有四天王的铜镜，寓意与石窟四角绘镇窟天王相仿。铜镜本身避邪，四大天王的职能又是护法，更加压胜驱邪。由此推之，刻有南方增长天王的本品應當原爲一套，又据佛板表面的風沙痕跡，并非供于室内，而是懸于屋簷，這也與遼、金時期的考古發現吻合。

从现有考古资料看，辽、金属地所出的线刻镜，出土途径雖然也主要是塔和墓葬，但通常悬挂于佛塔之外或鑲于墓室顶上。譬如著名的内蒙古赤峰巴林右旗庆州白塔，塔身鑲有八百余面圓形和菱形銅鏡。首都博物馆所藏北京房山雲居寺续秘藏石经塔舍利函内发现的銅鏡，上有與本品一致的鑽孔短柄，也是懸挂所用。再如辽宁建平县张家营子墓所出六面铜镜，五面挂于墓室四壁，一面悬于室顶。又如河北省张家口市宣化區张氏遼墓群，不少銅镜镜钮上残留铁条、鐵鈎、木枋，均係懸挂所用。

私人收藏與市場記錄，參見金申舊藏遼代线刻佛画像铜板，著錄于《佛教美术全集（六）：佛像鉴定与收藏》第30、31页；《两家藏古代佛像：苔华斋藏佛像》第70页，后上拍于中國嘉德2011年11月15日雅玩清赏：文房工艺品專場第3990號，估價￥800,000-1,200,000。

又見香港萬昌斯2018年11月29日佛造像及中国古董珍玩專場第7850號"辽铜阴线刻双面佛板画"，港幣288,000成交。以及巴黎邦瀚斯2022年10月25日Robert與Jean-Pierre Rousset家族珍藏亞洲藝術專場第40號“鎏銀銅一佛二菩薩紋牌”，60,855歐元成交。