This important Lulu Scott Backus hand-incised earthenware bowl stands 4.5" high by 9" in diameter. It has an intricate design, hand-tooled, inside and out on a handsome pedestaled form, with a sizable and inviting bowl. The banded design on the exterior collar is hand-incised with a repeating pattern of symbol-like figures. The pedestaled foot is also incised with a line/symbol design. The interior of the bowl is exquisitely hand-carved with bands of repeating motifs, the central band akin to a Paisley design. It is beautifully glazed in a rich teal green glaze, inside and out. The interior bottom of the bowl reveals a pool of glaze, which deepens to a blue glaze, which is akin to stone in its presentation. It has a semi-gloss finish. This very well executed pot is signed with Backus' cipher on the base. Backus was a rock star as potters go, with a wonderfully rich history in ceramics (see below). This bowl is in original studio condition with a no harm superficial clay seam on the exterior side, shown in the photos. This bowl is the most intricate design I have seen by Backus. She produced this vessel from conception to its firing in the kiln. It is hand-thrown, hand-incised, she made her own glazes, and so on. Her work is not plentiful, so I feel priveleged to offer this beautiful bowl. I recently acquired a small collection of her works and will be listing them going forward. This scarce Backus vessel is a wonderful example of the American art pottery movement in the first part of the 20th century.
According to online sources, Lulu Scott Backus (1873-1955) attended the State Normal School at Brockport, NY. After graduating, she worked at Brockport School 13 where she was not only principal, but taught drawing and music as well. She also taught drawing at the Rochester School for the Deaf.  
Her affiliation with RIT began when she attended the art and craft teacher training program at the Institute, when the University was known as the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute.  She completed her postgraduate work with Theodore Hanford Pond, working in jewelry and pottery.  She also worked under the direction of notable potter Frederick Walrath, c1909.  Later, she specialized in ceramics and worked under Charles Fergus Binns at Alfred University.  She returned to the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute and served as director of the Craft and Ceramic Department starting in 1918. She remained at RIT until her retirement in 1952.  Backus exhibited her work extensively, and was known for her colorful and experimental glazing techniques. She was a successful ceramicist, head of the YWCA Arts and Crafts Hobby Shop, and a member of both the American Ceramic Society and New York Society of Ceramic Arts.  She was the recipient of the prestigious Lillian Fairchild Award in 1927.  She exhibited at the Syracuse Nationals from 1933-1935, 1937-1941 and 1948.  Lulu Scott Backus died in 1955 at the age of 82.