In a shelf in the vaults of the Folger Shakespeare Library sit several snuffboxes bearing the image of Master William Henry West Betty, the child actor who dominated the British stage be-tween 1803 and 1806 (figs. 1 and 2). Small, pretty, and delicate, these snuffboxes are undeniably “cute,” in keeping with the as-sociation of cuteness with fragility, empathy, and desire (Merish 187). Like other cute objects, they invite human touch despite their vulnerable materiality, as if to say, “Hold me carefully or I will break.” The tiny portraits painted onto the ivory lids en-hance the boxes’ cuteness by depicting the “Young Roscius” in his most famous roles, from Shakespeare’s Romeo to the charac-ter of Norval in John Home’s Douglas. In turn, the skillful min-iaturization of Betty’s image amplifies the cuteness of the boy himself, whom audiences admired as much, if not more, for his physical charms as for his convincing stage impersonations.