Johann Hermann Kretzchmer (1811-90) was at the Academy in Berlin in 1829, where he taught Wilhelm Wach. In 1838 he went to Rome, and visited Sicily in 1840 and Greece, Egypt and Constantinople in 1841. In 1842 he returned to Düsseldorf, but moved on to Berlin in 1845. In 1856 he was appointed Professor at the Academy in Berlin. He painted portraits and genre scenes, but is best known for his scenes of oriental life, which have been much reproduced. In addition to the work, the Royal Collection also has a pair of paintings by Kretzchmer, his Embarkation (RCIN 406257) and Breakfast in the Desert (RCIN 406258).

At a fountain set into a recessed arch overgrown with foliage, a group of figures wait to collect water. On the left a woman reaches up to receive her child from a female attendant; next to them a young woman sits on a fallen Corinthian capital as she waits for her vessel to fill under the spout; facing her, a young boy stands near an elderly seated man; two laden horses are partly visible on the right.