A pale blue-grey palette whose arms swing out sideways into a fan, each one carrying a row of square half pans, with a curved white lid hinged above them that is moulded into mixing wells. A two-compartment pink case travels with it. Closed, the whole thing is about the size of a spectacle case; open, every pan is in front of you at once.

The fan exists to solve a real problem. A palette wide enough to lay twenty-four pans in one row cannot be held in the hand, and stacking them under a lid buries half the colours. Swinging the arms out spreads all of them into view while the body still closes to something you can hold, and you can leave one arm folded when a painting does not need it.

Two sizes are stocked and the larger is much the better rate. Twelve colours is Rs. 6,775, which is Rs. 564.58 a pan; twenty-four is Rs. 8,165, which is Rs. 340.21. Twelve extra colours cost Rs. 1,390 and cut the price of every pan by nearly forty per cent — this is a range where the small box is poor value and we would rather say so.

At Rs. 340.21 the twenty-four sits almost exactly level with our Daler-Rowney Aquafine Studio Set at Rs. 337.50 a pan, and well under our Winsor & Newton Cotman 24 at Rs. 729.17. The Aquafine gives you forty-eight pans in a flat tin; this gives you twenty-four in a palette that fans open and carries its own mixing surface.

One thing to be clear about before you order. The pink case is part of the set and comes with it. The two brushes shown resting inside that case in the photographs are not — no brush is supplied with either size, so if you do not already own one, add it to the order. Our Aquafine round brush starts at Rs. 1,350.

We list this palette from 12 years up. Prices are Rs. 6,775 for twelve colours and Rs. 8,165 for twenty-four, with Cash on Delivery across Pakistan. The photographs on this page show the twenty-four. Tell us which size you want on WhatsApp and we will confirm stock, your city and delivery charges before dispatch.

Why this product is worth considering