Lincrusta was launched in 1877 to instant success in a host of applications from royal homes to railway carriages. Heralded as the first washable wallcovering, it appealed to Victorians because of its sanitary properties as well as its durability and ornate effects. A British invention, it was the brainchild of manufacturer Frederick Walton whose father pioneered linoleum floor covering in the 1860´s. Originally launched as "Linoleum Muralis", it was subsequently re-named "Lincrusta-Walton" − Lin for Linum (flax, from which linseed oil is made) and Crusta (Relief), with the inventor´s name being added to prevent other firms using the same title. Frederick Walton was something of an inventor and entrepreneur. He had been associated for some years with the remarkably successful floor covering product, Staines Linoleum, when it occurred to him that the material was capable of development in another and totally distinct way. Instead of applying it to floors he would, with some variation in its manufacture, apply it to walls but with a modelled surface in relief instead of the printed coloured surfaces of floor covering.