Lettering Styles for Stone
The letters carry the message. A style that suits stone is legible at a distance, survives weathering and fits the character of the memorial or building.
Roman capitals
Roman square capitals, also called inscriptional capitals, are the ancient Roman letterform that underlies modern capital letters. They have thick and thin strokes and incised serifs. Well-known examples appear on inscriptions in Rome, including the inscription on Trajan's Column.
Serifs and sans serifs
A serif is a small stroke at the end of a main stroke of a letter. Serif letters feel traditional and formal; sans-serif letters feel modern and plain. Both can be cut well, but the stroke widths of very thin modern typefaces may be hard to read once cut and weathered.
Lower case, italics and scripts
- Lower-case letters take more space but are often easier to read in long texts.
- Italics suit short lines such as a quotation.
- Flowing scripts look elegant on paper but can lose clarity in stone; ask for a full-size drawing.
Filling and colouring letters
Cut letters can be left plain, painted or gilded. Gilding is the application of a very thin layer of gold, often gold leaf, to a surface. Ask the mason how any fill or paint will weather and whether it will need renewing.
Other scripts
For inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew or other scripts, choose a mason who can show previous work in that script, and have a fluent reader check the drawing before cutting.
Cut 2026-10-22