Mid-Century Monday: Couroc of Monterey

I was out thrifting with a friend today and I picked up this adorable tray with two birds. On closer inspection I noticed there was inlaid wood and some kind of metal in the tray. When I turned it over it said made in California, I then stuck it into my basket. :)



The Couroc Company was a Monterey California company that produced many different types and shapes of trays, boxes, ashtrays and glassware from 1948 until their closure in the early 1990s. Their products have become and remain collectable because of their high quality and beauty. Guthrie Courvoisier, owner of Courvoisier Galleries in San Francisco formed Couroc in 1948. His wife, Moira Wallace was a designer that was involved in designing manufacturing - sometimes even 'signing' her work. Couroc was formed in Monterey an area that held strong artistic communes at the time. Being located in a beautiful part of the Pacific coast had other advantages, Couroc relied on a plentiful supply of natural design elements, especially coral and shells. Couroc's Early Years

During the early years, the artists carefully arranged bits and pieces of common metal items one might find at a hardware store into elements of the design. Items like springs, screws, glitter, safety pins and paper clips were commonly part of Couroc's best designs. The artisans also used pieces of brass and other metals and carefully bent them into shape.

While tastes differ, some of the most desirable trays are the aquatic scenes, mosaics, abstract "atomic" bird characters, Walt Disney Tiki Room and the 1950's Capitol Records Tray. via

images via www.etsy.com/shop/PardonMyVintage