Iwould seriously doubt firegilting. That was en extremely hazardous process that wasn't used much after WWI. It involves mixing molten gold with mercury to bring down the melting point of the solution. Then the the esisting slurry was smeared on to the surface with a piece of wood. All that time the mercury was evaporating leaving only the gold on the surface. Thus, the place was saturated with mercury fumes. Folks in that profession didn't last very long. They are most likely electro plated.
Never really determined what a goldwash is. But there is also a ceramic gold paint. After painting it on it is baked and then polished to a shine. The resulting coating is not conductive, so when you check it with an ohm meter you would get infinite resistance.
