I found this image plate at an old home site in central Mississippi. It has been suggested that this piece was used to impress thin metal into 3-D raised images. This one features an unknown male figure.
This plate wasn't meant to be a printing plate. If it was it would be raised and not depressed.
However, it has been suggested that it was probably meant to serve as a mold for a printing plate. The man featured is advertising(?) a celluloid collar. You can see the collar wrapping around the man's image.