Large Vase

History of the work

On the Kleine Schanze, the park above Bundesgasse, stands a large vase on a stone base. It dates from 1921 and is signed on the base. The sources differ on the material: the city's register says stone, while Wikimedia Commons and the website of the Perincioli family of sculptors speak of cast stone. In the background of the photographs you see the Federal Terrace, the Erlacherhof, the Bundeshaus West and the Parliament Building.

The maker is Etienne Didier Alphonse Perincioli, who also appears under the first name Stefano. He was born in Doccio in Piedmont in 1881 and worked in Bern from 1908, where he died in 1944. According to SIKART he made art for buildings and restored old architectural sculpture. He first became known for expressive portraits; later he made animal sculptures. In Bern his works include the larger-than-life cast-stone centaur of 1918 at the head of the Kirchenfeld bridge by the Kunsthalle and the fountain figures in the garden of the Bernese power company at Viktoriaplatz from around 1916. A 1989 seminar paper by Esther Maria Jungo, reproduced on the family website, calls him probably the most important sculptor in the Bern area in the 1920s.

His son Marcel Perincioli, born in Bern in 1911, trained with him from 1927 to 1930 and became a well-known sculptor himself; according to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, his works include the bronze doors of the Nydegg church.

The vase's setting has a long garden history. On the Baroque ramparts Karl von Luternau laid out a landscape park in 1818; the promenade followed in 1876, and in 1909 the park was extended for the Universal Postal Union monument. The pavilion of the park café was added in 1945; it was renovated together with the park between 2023 and 2025. When you visit the vase, turn around afterwards: from here the view runs across the Federal Terrace to the Bundeshaus.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Marcel Perincioli · Wikipedia (de): Etienne Perincioli · SIKART: Etienne Perincioli · HLS: Marcel Perincioli · Bildhauer Perincioli: Kunst am Bau (Texte Esther Maria Jungo) · Open House Bern: Kleine Schanze · Wikimedia Commons: Kunststeinskulptur Vase (Etienne Perincioli 1921)