Vintage Art Deco Style Gold-Tone Dress Clip with Rhinestones

This item is a vintage costume jewelry dress clip, designed in an ornate Art Deco or Retro-era style. The piece is shield-shaped with a tapered bottom, featuring intricate openwork or filigree patterns that mimic ribbon bows and swirling floral motifs. It is constructed from a gold-toned base metal, likely brass or a similar alloy, with a warm, aged yellow-gold finish. The structure is heavily embellished with pave-style settings intended for small rhinestones. Notably, the majority of the original stones are missing, leaving behind empty circular sockets across the surface. Only a few remaining clear crystalline rhinestones are visible on the upper right quadrant, showing slight yellowing or dullness due to age. The metalwork displays a significant amount of surface patina and darkening in the recessed areas, which is common for pieces from the mid-20th century (approximately 1930s-1940s). The clasp mechanism is hidden on the reverse, used traditionally to secure the ornament to the neckline of a dress or lapel. Its condition is graded as fair to poor for collectors due to the significant loss of original paste stones, though the metal structure remains intact without visible breaks or warped sections.