Venetian School, first half of the 19th century

This work portrays a Venetian water carrier in traditional costume, wearing elaborate jewellery and a top hat adorned with peacock feathers.¹ She is depicted next to a carved stone well, holding a copper bucket over her shoulder using a carrying pole. Depictions of water carriers were popular subjects amongst nineteenth-century Austrian and Italian artists, who would often depict beautiful working-class women engaged in everyday tasks set within a historical backdrop.

It has been suggested that this work was probably executed in Venice in the first half of the nineteenth century by an Austrian artist. The features and complexion of the sitter appear more northern than Mediterranean. Moreover, at that time, Venice and the rest of the territories of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia were under Austrian rule. It has also been suggested that the work could be attributed to Venetian artist Natale Schiavoni (1777–1858), or one of his pupils such as Jacopo Antonio Marastoni (1804–1860), both celebrated for their Venetian genre scenes. 

¹ https://www.prints-online.com/venetian-water-carriers-7210295.html