Maternité (Motherhood)

History of the work

In the Elfenau park, on the lawn south-east of the small orangery at Elfenauweg 94, stands a stone sculpture by Gustave Piguet from 1958. The French title “Maternité” means motherhood. Wikidata gives a height of 122 centimetres. Who commissioned the figure and why it stands precisely here is not recorded in the sources available.

Piguet was born in Interlaken on 19 February 1909 and died on 12 December 1976. The Swiss art lexicon SIKART lists him as a sculptor whose work was devoted mainly to art in architecture and in public space. The open reference works say little more about him; there is no full lexicon article yet.

The site has a long history. The small orangery was originally a tenant farmer’s house from around 1730/40. In 1814 the Russian Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna bought what was then the Brunnadern estate, had it remodelled in the Empire style and named it Elfenau. Between 1814 and 1816 the tenant’s house was given the orangery wing on its east side, whose garden front is marked by a porch with four Doric columns and a triangular pediment.

Since 1928 the city’s gardening department has had part of its operations in the Elfenau, at first in the old farm buildings of the estate; in 1928/29 the small orangery was also converted for its use. During the renovation of 1976/77 by Atelier 5 the building regained its Empire-period exterior. It is listed as a cultural property of national importance. From the sculpture you look straight at the columned front of the orangery.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · SIKART: Gustave Piguet · Wikidata: Maternité (Q99337107) · Wikimedia Commons: Steinskulptur Maternité (Gustave Piguet 1958) · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Elfenauweg 94 (Kleine Orangerie) · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Elfenauweg 91 (Landsitz Elfenau) · Stadt Bern: Referat Stadtgärtnerei zum Elfenaupark, 3.9.2009