Was this a common practice? (embalmed head)

Factual Questions
1

According to the Wikipedia article on Sir Walter Raleigh “After Raleigh’s execution, his head was embalmed and presented to his wife. She carried it with her in a velvet bag until she died twenty-nine years later and it was returned to Raleigh’s tomb at St Margaret’s.”

Was it a common practice for the head to be preserved and presented to the family of the deceased? If so, what would the family usually do with it?

2

I’d say fairly uncommon, although there are other examples of souvenir body parts being kept. Here are a few more examples:

3

They embalmed heads of famous criminals sometimes, so people could see the famous criminal was dead. I’m sure they didn’t mind attracting people to view the macabre, usually for a price.