| * DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
INSTRUCTIONS
Downloading is not automatic. These
orders come in as emails. Once I see your order
come in, you will receive an order confirmation
and downloading instructions.
Before downloading your order, the
cd files first need to be uploaded to a free large
file transfer online utility I use. They're approx.
600mb each cd. Upload time for the files is a about
15 minutes depending on the internet. Once uploaded,
you'll then get an email with a link to download
the files.
Couroc History
Whimsical and intricately designed,
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 exactly alike; each
vintage mid-century modern piece celebrates unmatched
beauty and durability.
The Couroc Company was founded by
Guthrie Courvoisier and his wife Moira Wallace in
1948. Prior to creating the company, Courvoisier
ran the Courvoisier Galleries in San Francisco,
which he inherited from his father in 1934. In 1937,
when Walt Disney premiered Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, Courvoisier saw a chance to represent a
unique line of art - a desire of his that would
grow in scope and vision, ultimately leading to
the creation of the Couroc Company. In 1938, Disney
granted Courvoisier the exclusive right to market
their original animation art. The art sold exceptionally
well, but, in 1942, the Courvoisier Gallery closed
to produce plastic parts for military aircraft.
This too would ultimately fuel the successful creation
of Couroc products.
Courvoisier’s wartime efforts gained
him valuable experience with different plastics.
He was able to take that experience, and his expertise
with design and innovation, and develop a proprietary
formula of phenolic resin that was durable enough
to form into trays and bowls. The formula was resistant
to alcohol, boiling water, and cigarette burns,
making the pieces the perfect addition to any home
bar.
Courvoisier’s wife, Moira, was a
child prodigy artist, who had her first art show
in 1927. She became chief designer for Couroc, and
worked on the different inlay techniques involving
woods, metals, shell, coins, plants and crystals.
Oftentimes the material used for the trays was sourced
locally, with abalone, coral, and seaweed collected
by skin divers among the rugged Monterey Coast.
Throughout the decades, the husband-and-wife team
led skilled artisans in crafting unique pieces that
rose to high popularity and were sold in many high-end
department stores.
Significantly, each piece’s design
is slightly different because the inlays are set
by hand - no two are ever exactly alike. Made of
brass, wood, rhinestones, shells, and other unique
materials the eye-catching scenes seem to glow against
the satiny black finish of the trays.
Designs include seagulls soaring
high over a tiny fishing boat, a precocious karate
cat, intricately detailed lighthouses, and so much
more. With these vintage mid-century trays, one
is never enough. As the company would say, “Any
tray can serve a drink. Only Couroc can start a
conversation.”
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