Primarily, the purpose of a table is a practical one; it must be easy to sit at and/or performs the function you require it for. Thereafter, the proportion, colour and general art of the table as an object is what you look for.

The degree to which the table has these factors dictates the price – that is, the more boxes it ticks, the more expensive it is likely to be.

Although superficially two elm tripod tables may appear to be very similar to the untrained eye – one may be worth £500 and other £5000. There is, in fact a world of difference between these two tables: one is an ordinary, ugly-stemmed, meanly proportioned, flat-legged, elm tripod table. The other is beautifully-stemmed, perfectly proportioned with rounded, voluptuous legs and with the colour and patina of sun-kissed honey.