![14-12-03-2169NE03A Sothebys.jpg](https://gazette-eu-west2.azureedge.net/media/1660/14-12-03-2169ne03a-sothebys.jpg?width=750&height=500&mode=max&updated=08%2f03%2f2017+16%3a44%3a13)
Two years after he had been buried with pomp and ceremony, he suffered a Royalist posthumous execution - his head placed on a spike above Westminster Hall where it remained for 20 years. According to contemporary accounts, this plate was 'found in a leaden canister, lying on the breast of the corpse' by the man in charge of exhuming Cromwell's body - James Norfolke, Serjeant of the House of Commons.
Sotheby's will offer the 'relic' for sale on December 9. Estimated at £8000-12,000, it has been in the collection of the Harcourt family since the 19th century.