Therese Mirani

Mirani was born on 2 December 1824 in Prague, Bohemia.[1] Her father was the writer Johann Heinrich Mirani (1802–73).[2] Interested in both the technique, theory and history of embroidery from a young age, Mirani related in later life that she always wanted to be self-employed and described herself as a "voluntary spinster".[3]

In 1863, she began to supply the royal court and, in 1865, she was awarded with an Imperial and Royal Warrant of Appointment.[2] She invented a new embroidery technique called broderie dentelle and a new type of lace known as points imperial.[2] Empress Elisabeth was a collector of Mirani's broderie dentelle works, and commissioned an altar-cloth using the technique for the church of St Stephen.[3] She was also a fashion advisor to the New Free Press,[2] and wrote on home decoration for Wiener Mode.[4]

In 1867, a sample of Mirani's white embroidery work was exhibited at the Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie.[4][5] In the same year, she was awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris and was the first woman on the Austrian jury.[2]

In 1874, she helped to found the Imperial and Royal School for Art Embroidery of the Ministry of Commerce in Vienna, and was one of its first teachers.[6] After the death of the director Emilie Bach (1840–1890), she became director.[3] The school was designed to enable women to produce high-quality Hausindustrie goods, and to provide opportunities for working class women.[7]

Upon her retirement in 1899, she was awarded the Civil Service Cross (de).[8] She died on 24 May 1901 in Vienna.[1]

Historian Rebecca Houze has described how Mirani "helped shape the direction of design reform in Vienna".[6] Design historian Jeremy Aynsley described both Mirani and Emilie Bach as "overlooked figures" in the history of Arts and Crafts schools and the development of the subject in Austria.[9]