The following works by defining a new \fixedlabel labelling scheme. \fixedlabel{<lab>}{<tag>} fixes the label <tag> associated with <lab> (similar to the \tag labelling mechanism of amsmath).

% http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/52189/including-table-of-figures
\documentclass{article}
\makeatletter
\def\fixedlabel#1#2{%
\@bsphack%
\protected@write\@auxout{}%
{\string\newlabel{#1}{{#2}{\thepage}}}%
\@esphack}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{c@{\quad}cc}
& a & b \\
1 & \rule[-25pt]{100pt}{50pt}\fixedlabel{block1a}{1a}
& \rule[-25pt]{100pt}{50pt}\fixedlabel{block1b}{1b} \\ \\
2 & \rule[-25pt]{100pt}{50pt}\fixedlabel{block2a}{2a}
& \rule[-25pt]{100pt}{50pt}\fixedlabel{block2b}{2b} \\ \\
3 & \rule[-25pt]{100pt}{50pt}\fixedlabel{block3a}{3a}
& \rule[-25pt]{100pt}{50pt}\fixedlabel{block3b}{3b}
\end{tabular}
\caption{This is a caption.}\label{figtab}
\end{table}
See, for example, \ref{block1a} and~\ref{block2b} in Table~\ref{figtab}.
\end{document}
A hyperref-compatible version of \fixedlabel is given by:
\def\fixedlabel#1#2{%
\@bsphack
\begingroup
\@onelevel@sanitize\@currentlabelname
\edef\@currentlabelname{%
\expandafter\strip@period\@currentlabelname\relax.\relax\@@@%
}%
\phantomsection%
\protected@write\@auxout{}{%
\string\newlabel{#1}{%
{#2}%
{\thepage}%
{#2}%
{\@currentHref}{}%
}%
}%
\endgroup
\@esphack
}
figureortable? And how do you want to be able to reference the figures? For example,\ref{figurea1}should return1a1if it's part ofFigure 1? – Werner Apr 17 '12 at 2:01includeeach of them as a separate figure, and be able to\refthem separately as well. – jamaicanworm Apr 17 '12 at 2:02