Sunk letters and the V-shaped section

Sunk or incised letters occupy a recess in the stone. A V-shaped channel is one form, but the sources also discuss square-sided and blasted sections. Keeping the section distinct from the alphabet helps explain why the same letter drawing can look different when cut. (LM pp.96–98, 134–135.)

Section and contrast

Cook connected the apparent weight of an incised bar to its shaded bevel. He used that explanation to justify a heavier drawn form than a pen letter. It is his design rationale; the apparent result still depends on the surface and illumination in the example. Optical corrections develops that subject without repeating the cutting sequence. (LM pp.96–98.)

Why Cook and Elliott preferred it

Both writers favored incised lettering for many memorials. Cook appealed to historical precedent; Elliott criticized the labor and visual emphasis of cutting away a large ground to leave letters raised. These preferences are attributed period criticism, not rules governing all monuments. (LM p.111; GMB16 p.468.)

Variants in the sources

Wyckoff distinguishes the cross strokes of plain block and Roman letters in marble. Cook also illustrates a deep square-sided letter and discusses the shallower section associated with blasting. These are reasons to examine a letter in section as well as in elevation. (LM pp.30–31, 134–135; GMB16 p.523.)

See also

• Raised letters
• Roman letters
• Lettering in marble
• Gilding, leading and filling letters

Sources

• LM p.15–19, 30–31, 96–98, 111, 134–135.
• GMB16 p.468, 523 (Huger Elliott).

Source and editorial credit

LM publication record · GMB16 publication record.

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