This is the first of two questions I've got for the antique gurus here tonight:

I have a little antique table that has always stumped me. It's small, less than 2 feet high and barely 2 feet across. It's been painted black, but where the paint is chipped, you can see that the top is a pretty grained hardwood inlaid in a parquet fashion (4 triangles that form a square.)

Can anyone tell me what it might have been used for, given its small size and low height, and also an approximate age?

Front:

Side:

Shape of top:

Close up of parquet and grain:

Thanks in advance!