Royal Academy Ceramic Palette
Last updated: 2 September 2026
What this page is. A plain-English reference for the Royal Academy ceramic palette, a matchbox-sized watercolour set made for the RA Shop by Lilian May. Below you will find the price, the size, the eight colours and the Academy story behind each name. You will also find who makes it and where. Every figure comes from the RA Shop's own product page and Lilian May's own site, checked on 2 September 2026.
We earn nothing from this page. The RA Shop runs no affiliate programme we can join, so the link above is a plain editorial one.
What the Royal Academy ceramic palette actually is
Essentially, it is a working set of eight watercolours, poured into a speckled ceramic tray and sleeved in a card box that slides open like a matchbox. The whole thing measures 2 x 2 x 5.2cm. Consequently it disappears into a coat pocket rather than a rucksack.
In fact the sleeve reads "Artisan made", "Plastic free", "Hand mulled watercolours", "Set No.1" and "8 paints". However, none of that is decoration. Lilian May pours each colour into its ceramic well by hand, so the pans arrive with small cracks and bubbles across the surface. Factory watercolours are extruded in long solid blocks and cut to fit plastic pans, which is why they look identical to each other and these do not.
Meanwhile the tray itself is earthenware, thrown in Somerset from clay sourced in Stoke-on-Trent, then finished with a glossy speckled glaze. As a result no two sets look the same. So it is a genuine art material rather than a gallery-shop ornament, and it is sold only by the RA.
The eight colours, and where the names come from
Here is the part that earns the price. The RA says the eight were chosen with its own Collections team to correspond to key artworks in the RA Collection. However, it does not publish the list of works alongside the product. So here is what each name connects to inside the Academy.
| Colour | The Academy connection |
|---|---|
| Reynolds Red | Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Academy's first President from its founding in 1768. Consequently his self-portrait is among the best known things in the RA Collection. |
| Vanity's Locks | Frank Cadogan Cowper's Vanity, 1907, in the RA Collection. Indeed the RA's own reading of it dwells on the sitter's long red hair. |
| Moser Peony Pink | Mary Moser, one of only two women among the RA's founder members, and the leading British flower painter of her generation. |
| Turner's Yellow Ochre | J. M. W. Turner, elected a Royal Academician in 1802 and Professor of Perspective from 1807. |
| Hercules' Beard | The Academy's plaster cast of the Farnese Hercules, made for the RA Schools and shipped from Rome around 1790. Even now it stands on free display in the Julia and Hans Rausing Hall. |
| Mermaid's Fin | John William Waterhouse's A Mermaid, 1900, the painting he gave the Academy as his Diploma Work. |
| Constable Cloud Blue | John Constable, elected a Royal Academician in 1829. Because he studied clouds obsessively, his skies still get a colour named after them. |
| Gainsborough Green | Thomas Gainsborough, one of the Academy's founder members in 1768. |
Two of those repay a follow-up. The RA's Collections team has written a short reading of Cowper's Vanity, which explains the grapes, the mirror and the borrowed Pre-Raphaelite hair. The cast of the Farnese Hercules has its own catalogue entry, and it is free to go and look at.
Lilian May, the workshop that makes it
Meanwhile Lilian May is a family business in Somerset rather than a brand name. Will, the founder, is a watercolour artist and ceramicist. His mother Chris and her sisters Noreen and Sue make the ceramic wares, and his nephew Leo, an apprentice carpenter, helps out at weekends and in the evenings.
Furthermore the name comes from Will's grandmother. "Lilian May was the head and heart of our family," he writes, "and her love of family and also appreciation of quality workmanship, honestly made, is the ethos of our small family business."
Because they work with several museums, the RA set sits in a small run of institutional collaborations. Their own shop at lilianmay.co.uk carries plain palettes, earth pigment sets and matchbox sets, if the RA colours are not the ones you want.
Royal Academy ceramic palette specification
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Product | Colours of the Royal Academy Ceramic Palette, Set No.1 |
| Price | £43.50, and in stock when checked on 2 September 2026 |
| Size | 2 x 2 x 5.2cm, so it is a genuine matchbox |
| Material | Earthenware ceramic, then finished in a speckled gloss glaze |
| Paints | Eight hand-mulled watercolour pans, so no plastic anywhere |
| Made by | Lilian May in Somerset, using clay from Stoke-on-Trent |
| Sold by | The RA Shop, and so far nowhere else |
| SKU | 12097731 |
Delivery, and what it adds
The RA Shop ships UK orders over £50 free. Below that, postage is £4.95, and orders arrive in 3 to 5 working days. So a single palette lands at £48.45 delivered, which is annoyingly close to the free-delivery line.
Consequently a card or a small second item is the sensible move, because it costs less than the postage it removes. Otherwise international orders are quoted at checkout. Meanwhile the shop has temporarily suspended shipping to the EU, the EEA and Northern Ireland while it works through the General Product Safety Regulation, so this is a mainland UK buy for now.
Who it suits. Anyone who paints, and anyone who likes the idea of painting more than they currently manage. Because it is genuinely pocket-sized, it travels in a way a full box never does. It also suits the person who already has every gallery tote going, since this one gets used rather than displayed. If you want something from the same shop to hang instead, our page on the Ryan Gander RA print covers another RA release.
Buy the palette at the RA Shop, £43.50
Royal Academy ceramic palette FAQs
How much does the Royal Academy ceramic palette cost?
£43.50 direct from the RA Shop. Also, it was in stock when we checked on 2 September 2026. UK postage then adds £4.95, although orders over £50 ship free.
Where else can I buy it?
Nowhere, in short. The RA had it made for its own shop in collaboration with Lilian May, so the RA Shop is the only stockist. Lilian May sells other palettes directly, but not this one.
What are the eight colours?
In order, Reynolds Red, Vanity's Locks, Moser Peony Pink, Turner's Yellow Ochre, Hercules' Beard, Mermaid's Fin, Constable Cloud Blue and Gainsborough Green. Each was picked with the RA's Collections team against a work in the RA Collection.
Are the paints any good, or is it a souvenir?
Overall, they are hand-mulled artist watercolours in ceramic pans, so they behave like paint rather than like a child's set. However, eight small pans will not replace a studio box. Think of it as the set that lives in a coat rather than the one on the desk.
Why do the pans look cracked?
Because they are poured by hand, one at a time. Lilian May says so on the product page: cracks in the surface and small bubbles are normal, and they are the visible difference between a poured pan and a machine-cut one.
How big is it really?
2 x 2 x 5.2cm, which is exactly a matchbox. Consequently the pans are small, and the tray holds eight of them in two columns of four.
Is it dishwasher safe or otherwise fussy?
Since it is a paint set, it needs nothing beyond rinsing the pans and drying the tray. The glaze is glossy earthenware, and the sleeve is card, so keep the sleeve away from water.
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Prices, stock and delivery terms change. Everything here was checked on 2 September 2026, against the RA Shop's own product page, Lilian May's own site and the Royal Academy's Collection records.
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