Tottering-by-Gently
‘Tottering-by-Gently’ playing cards with cartoons by Annie Tempest.
Tottering-by-Gently is a cartoon strip which has appeared every week since 1993 in Country Life Magazine. Created by the Zambian-born cartoonist Anne Valerie Tempest (1959- ), known as Annie Tempest, the cartoon revolves around the fictional characters Lord and Lady Tottering (Dicky & Daffy) and their ever-faithful black Labrador Slobber, and gently laughs at their life and manners. The inspiration comes from Broughton Hall, Tempest’s childhood home in Yorkshire. She has also said that Lord Tottering is modelled on her father Henry, and Lady Tottering is partly modelled on herself.
The cartoon has spawned a commercial company which produces posters, greetings cards, watercolours and prints. This pack is part of that wider production. In the pack the Kings portray different cartoons of Lord Dicky, the Queens - Lady Daffy, while the Jacks have cartoons of the maid. There are two colourful Jokers, and the Labrador is shown on the back of the cards.
Above: ‘Tottering-by-Gently’ playing cards with cartoons by Annie Tempest
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
Activity for Tottering-by-Gently
Sign in to comment or save this article.
Related Articles
Scruffy Mutts
‘Scruffy Mutts’ dog-themed playing cards, United Kingdom, c.1998.
Dorset Dialect Trails
‘Dorset Dialect Trails’ playing cards, United Kingdom, 2015.
Empics playing cards
Photography from the UK and around the world, past and present.
Scarfes Bar playing cards
‘Scarfes Bar’ satirical playing cards with cartoons by Gerald Scarfe, United Kingdom.
Oxford Pubs playing cards
Oxford pubs souvenir playing cards, United Kingdom, 2008
Folio Society Clare Mackie playing cards
Folio Society Clare Mackie playing cards with playful and charming designs.
David Shrigley Ace playing cards
David Shrigley Ace playing cards, United Kingdom, 2014
Preposterous playing cards
Preposterous playing cards by Simon Drew published by British Heritage Ltd, Herts.
Wisdom of Wine
Wisdom of Wine playing cards by the English illustrator Simon Drew.
Pips in Pictures
‘Pips in Pictures’ imaginatively transformed playing cards by Jennifer Gaudion, 2001.
The Winning Hand
The Winning Hand playing cards with artwork from multiple artists, United Kingdom, 1993.
Political playing cards (2015)
Political playing cards produced by Oliver Preston at the time of the 2015 UK Parliamentary election...
And Marriage For All
“And Marriage For All” playing cards promoting equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Bank of England playing cards
Bank of England playing cards, reflecting prominent characters and events from the Bank’s history.
Odd Bods playing cards
Odd Bods playing cards illustrated by Jonathan Burton, United Kingdom, 2012.
Schott's sporting gaming & idling miscellany
Schott's sporting gaming & idling miscellany, United Kingdom, 2004.
Soldaty Udachi
“Soldaty Udachi” (Soldiers of Fortune) Army and Police humour playing cards, Russia, 2001.
Spot the Difference
Spot the Difference playing cards published in "Razvlekatel’naia Gazetka" newspaper, 1998-1999.
Biff! Bang!! Wallop!!!
Biff! Bang!! Wallop!!! family card game published by H.P. Gibson & Sons Ltd, 1939.
The Virtue of Princes
The Virtue of Princes, 1938.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
-playing-cards-with-wüst-courts/images/rijks-1.465ba2b2.jpg "Oude Kunst (Old Art) playing cards with Wüst courts")
