The Couroc Company was a Monterey, California company that produced many different types and shapes of trays, boxes, ashtrays and glassware from 1948 until its closure in the early 1990s.  Its 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. This simple  yet stunning Bakelite box features inlaid mallard ducks and is a collector’s item for those fascinated by the Bakelite phenomenon. Donated by DCPA Chairman Emeritus Donald Seawell.