Kitty turned up with an artist of the highest standing (3-6)
I believe the answer is:
top-drawer
'of the highest standing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'kitty turned up with an artist' is the wordplay.
'kitty' becomes 'pot' (synonyms).
'turned up' is a reversal indicator.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'an artist' becomes 'drawer' (drawer is a kind of artist).
'pot' written backwards gives 'top'.
'top'+'drawer'='TOP-DRAWER'
(Other definitions for top-drawer that I've seen before include "Perfect" , "Of the highest standing" , "Excellent" , "of high social standing" .)