Fireproof strong box by Bauche, Gueux, France, circa 1865.

Front with the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur.

Top label:

INCUMBUSTIBLE SYSTEME BAUCHE
BREVETE S.G.D.G.

USINE A GUEUX MARNE

With Key.

Width: 44 cm.

Depth: 31.5 cm.

Height: 26 cm.

The Bauche company:

In 1864, Auguste-Nicolas Bauche, expert in fire resistant materials, began to produce safes and founded his first production factory in Gueux, near Reims in France. By 1867, the Gueux workshops had become too cramped. The factory was moved to Reims with more modern workshops incorporating a technological breakthrough of the time: a cementation furnace for the extreme hardening of the surface of certain steels.

This led to great advancements in the protection safes could offer. In 1879, Bauche demonstrated the efficacy of his fire safes with a live demonstration and several thousand francs emerged intact from a safe after having been repeatedly subjected to fire.  Then the invention of the “ironclad” safe, both fire resistant and armour plated, in 1895, solidified Bauche’s name in the safe industry.

In 1967, Fichet and Bauche merged. The newly merged Fichet-Bauche company focused on producing safes, vaults, and locks.