Recent travels took me to St. Augustine, Florida. There, I visited the Ximenez-Fatio house for a very masked and socially distanced tour. (I was one of only 3 people there.) In the parlor, there was a table described as a ‘Loo’ table. Loo was a very real and very popular card game played at the time, but Loo tables are round as they are most often played with 5 people. This is a four sided table with very odd shapes inlaid in mother-of-pearl. The shapes are not consistent from side to side. There is a square, a rectangle, a circle, something that looks like a fish, something that looks like a razor blade and something that looks like an old can opener (?). I have no way of verifying the date of the table, but the docent mentioned it was in use in the early 19th century.
My research has scored me bupkis. If you have any ideas or leads on this unique bit of furniture, let me know. exploredallashistory@gmail.com
If you would like to read more on the house, you can find it at XimenezFatioHouse.org
