In 1837, King Louis-Philippe authorised the installation of a blast furnace in Sommevoire. Twenty years later, Antoine Durenne bought it and founded his company. The Antoine Durenne Foundry prospered in the art foundry sector, which was booming at the time. In the 1930s, the SAEM Antoine Durenne & Val d’Osne manufactured almost all the cast iron art produced in Haute-Marne. Its statues, both religious and secular, its war memorials and its candelabras decorated all the towns in France. The company changed its name to GHM (Générale d’Hydraulique et de Mécanique) in 1971 and continued the work of its founder with unrivalled expertise.