Paper from Baghdad

Sherryl

Wasn't there some kind of sticky red matrix that the gold leaf was applied to? It's the dark red background that's so obvious on the Lover's card where most of the gold has fallen off, but you can see the imprint of the embossing. It's also visible on some of the borders where the paint has flaked off.

The cards were made with the same processes that went into illuminated manuscripts. I saw a demonstration once of applying gold leaf to a sticky backing and burnishing it. Incredibly delicate and painstaking work.
 

Teheuti

I don't know what kinds of paints/mediums were used. Your description makes sense.