This is a fragment of the gilt bronze epitaph excavated from the tomb of Priest Gyōki, who had been a high priest in Nara period and was cremated. Twenty-one characters arranged in four lines, including remaining fragments of characters, are observable on the epitaph plate. According to the Chikurin-ji Ryakki (the abbreviated record of Chikurin-ji temple) kept in Tōshōdai-ji temple, Priest Gyōki's tomb was excavated in 1235. On that occasion, a bronze cylinder kept in an octagonal stone case was discovered. A relic container made of silver was placed within the cylindrical bronze case and a silver plate with a carved inscription, which reads "The relic container of Gyōki-bosatsu (Bodhisattva)," was attached to the cylindrical case. On the surface of the cylindrical bronze case, the Record of the Archbishop's Relics consisting of 309 characters arranged in seventeen lines (twenty characters per line) were engraved. Priest Gyōki died in 749 in Sugahara-dera (Kikō-ji) in Nara according to that record. The body was cremated on the eastern slope of Mt. Ikoma and the ash was buried in the precinct of Chikurin-ji temple (located in today's Arisato-chō in Ikoma city). The fragment introduced in this article is probably part of that record. 
Masterpieces of Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1993, p.131, no.105.