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In this paper, we address the behaviour of lacquer coatings similar to that found on the Mazarin Chest, an important Japanese lacquerware artefact currently held by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. The response of Japanese lacquer (urushi) to changes in environmental conditions was investigated by examining the deflection of a glass substrate coated with a thin film of urushi subjected to changes of humidity. This deflection, measured using phase-shifting interferometry, was then used to determine the two in-plane hygral stress components. Results were compared for two sample conditioning regimes--subjected to intense UV ageing and no ageing--each at a range of relative humidity (RH) steps. The changes in humidity were found to cause rapid stress changes in the lacquers, which then relax over much longer time scales. A simple one-dimensional model of the moisture transport and the stress development is shown to be effective in describing the response of the material to changes in environmental RH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]