Couroc Roadrunner Bird Design Barware Vintage Serving Tray Circa 1960

Description

Large Mid-Century Modern Couroc of Monterey California roadrunner bird design barware serving tray.
Vintage Couroc Roadrunner Design Barware Serving Tray, … more Large Mid-Century Modern Couroc of Monterey California roadrunner bird design barware serving tray.
Vintage Couroc Roadrunner Design Barware Serving Tray, Circa 1960.
A mid century beautiful Couroc barware tray featuring a Roadrunner bird made up of the classic Couroc inlay techniques by master craftspeople using a variety of materials all fused into the black satin tray.
Couroc trays and barware were produced for more than 40 years by highly skilled artisans in Monterey, California.
Due to a unique process of hand inlaying natural materials and fusing them into phenolic resin, no two Couroc pieces are one of a kind handmade pieces.
This tray is crafted in satin black phenolic resin and decorated with whimsical design of speeding Roadrunner hand inlaid with shells, woods and brass.
Circa: 1960s.
Origin: Continental.
Dimensions: W: 18" D: 12.5" H.0.75".
The sticker is still present on the bottom of the box and reads, "Unique Couroc products are cherished gifts because of their great variety and beauty in design. Hand inlaid by master craftsmen, are fused into Couroc's famous satin black material which is impervious to alcohol, boiling water, and cigarette burns."
By Couroc of Monterey/California.
Fantastic vintage condition with wear reflective of its age and use.
History:
The Couroc Company, founded in 1948 in Monterey, CA, produced beautiful and often whimsical black resin trays and glassware made by skilled artisans. Couroc's founder, Guthrie Courvoisier, worked with a variety of plastics while working in the war effort during WWII. He used his experience and developed a proprietary formula of phenolic resin material that was not only durable enough to form into trays but was also impervious to alcohol and flames. Courvoisier's wife, Moira Wallace, acted as Couroc's chief designer and led an art commune of skilled artisans in arranging an array of local items into Couroc's resin pieces.
Guthrie Courvoisier and his wife, Moira Wallace, established the Couroc Company in Monterrey, California in the late 1940s. The company worked with a stable of artists to produce inlaid domestic wares/household objects using a proprietary resin material through the 1980s.
Items like these trays were original designs hand inlaid with stones, shells, woods, metal, and sometimes found objects. The resin base was extremely durable and resistant to fading, liquid, and heat.
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.
Couroc's products were very popular and sold in high-end department stores. Alongside its whimsical designs, the company's saying for its trays stated that "Any tray can serve a drink. Only Couroc can start a conversation."
Their products have become and remain collectable because of their high quality and beauty. less