A unique find - a Couroc enamel tray with wood inlay and brass designed by Delmas Creative.  Couroc inlay techniques by master craftspeople use 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.
 
1960s
15,5" x 10.75"
Tray shown with Acrylic Stag and Bird Coasters
 
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. 
 
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."
 
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.