But there is a specific problem with the antique bureau — a fall-front writing desk with drawers beneath — as furniture in today’s world.

Image A George III inlaid mahogany bureau that sold for £85, or about $110, in September at Gorringe’s in Lewes, England. Credit... via Gorringe's

“They’re almost useless now,” said Clifford Lansberry, a partner at Gorringe’s. “PCs and laptops don’t fit on them, and the cables get in the way. The height of the table is incorrect. And we don’t write letters.”

Mr. Lansberry added that of all the types of antique furniture his auction house sells, the bureau had perhaps suffered the most dramatic falls in value. “Twenty years ago, mahogany examples would regularly sell for between £1,000 and £2,000,” he said. In September, Gorringe’s sold a George III inlaid mahogany bureau for £85 with fees, or about $110.

The humble bureau is emblematic of the way that lifestyle changes have transformed collecting culture. For three centuries or so, this piece of furniture was routinely used to write and store letters. But who needs that in an age of emails, text messages and FaceTime chats?

Arguably, it is not so much “taste” that determines the value of collectibles, but more the way that human beings actually live their lives. Economists have noted how the wealth of the middle class in developed countries has declined over the last 30 years. This has inevitably had an impact on the value of lower-range collectibles. So, too, has the way that members of the middle class use their homes.