Why this table number earns its place
The job is holding a card where it can be read from a distance. A runner crossing a floor with two plates in their hands needs to identify table nine without leaning over the party to look, and a card lifted 160 mm off the cloth clears the glassware, the cruet and the flowers that would otherwise hide it. The alligator clip is what makes the holder worth more than a printed number: it takes whatever card is put into it, so the same holder is a table number tonight, a reserved card at lunch, an allergen note at a function and a price ticket on a deli counter. The printing is a sheet of card run off in the office, changed as often as needed and costing nothing to redo.
The base is a 22 x 22 mm polyresin cube, which is very little to give up on a table laid for four — it takes less space than a condiment lid. A solid resin block puts the weight low down, and low weight is what stops a small holder tipping when a cloth is dragged past or a chair goes back. The steel wire between the base and the clip is what keeps the card at the angle it was set to, holding it facing the room through a service instead of drifting round to face the wall. Silver reads as neutral against most table dressing, and both the resin and the steel wipe down between covers.
