Prompted by your post being clearly founded on knowledge, I did some more digging.
There IS an "add to desktop" - but buried in the "More" menu which is only visible after a long press for a local folder; networked folders don't give this option.
Thanks anway!
Edited to add that now I pause to think, I found out several days ago that the desktop shortcut option exists but only works for local folders. A shame, as this would be ideal.