Xylotechnigraphy is an

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

term for a decorative treatment to

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

. By

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissues), in cytology (microscopic study of cells), and in the ...

, finishing, and

graining Graining is the practice of imitating wood grain on a non-wood surface, or on relatively undesirable wood surface, in order to give it the appearance of a rare or higher quality wood, thereby increase that surface's aesthetic appeal. Graining was ...

, the wood resembles a more expensive or finer type. The process was invented by A. F. Brophy and

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

ed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1871.''The Architect'' (6 March 1875)
"Royal Institute of British Architects: Paper read by Mr. G. T. Robinson, Contributing Visitor, on Certain New or Recently-revived Processes in Decorative Art."
p. 144 In a paper read before a meeting of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

three years after xylotechnigraphy was patented, G. T. Robinson described it as "in principle exceedingly simple. ... To ceilings, doors, dados in our private houses, to partitions and fittings of our banks and commercial offices, this process is, I conceive, exceedingly applicable, and to our larger and less movable pieces of furniture it is not misapplied, though I confess to a lurking dislike to it in those lesser articles to which true

inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

, by reason of their smaller process, seems more aesthetically appropriate." In the same paper, Robinson quoted the patent in which Brophy detailed the process:

In order to
stain A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials app ...
wood in various colours, according to any suitable design, leaving, if desired, parts of the wood unstained, so as to obtain an imitation of inlay, I proceed as follows: I first apply a
varnish Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...
or solution which will fill the pores of the wood, and exclude the staining liquid from such parts of the surface as are to remain unstained, then when the varnish or solution is dry, I apply over the whole surface the lightest stain I intend to use; this stain being dry I again apply the varnish, or stopping, coating with it such parts of the surface as I desire to retain of a colour corresponding to the lightest stain, and so I proceed until the desired effect is obtained, the last stain applied being usually black or a very dark stain. The surface having been cleared off may, if desired, be varnished or polished all over, or it may remain as it is left by the last staining process.

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Ceramic Door Knobs
Interior design Wood {{architecture-stub

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