Old stockmaker's "tricks":
* Bone Black or charcoal rubbed into the grain will accentuate the grain. Very common!
* Stain a plain piece of wood reddish brown to make it look like a better piece of wood (like Winchester did for a century).
* Stain on a brush can also be used to accentuate (or even add) grain. Happens a lot more often than people may want to believe . . .
* Shellac painted onto the wood across the grain will kinda-sorta look like figure under a different finish (if you know what you are doing).
* Brown shellac will make a light colored piece of wood look better (for a while, at least).