Is "Dutch wife" one of those "Dutch words"?

Solution 1:

I found an example of Dutch wife earlier than the OED's 1891.

Narrative of a voyage round the world, during the years 1835, 36, and 37 by William Samuel W. Ruschenberger and published in 1838, describes his stay on the island of Java (which had passed from the Dutch to the British in 1811):

We found our sleeping rooms pleasant. The beds were supplied with an additional hard bolster or pillow whereon to rest the lower limbs, which has obtained the somewhat equivocal name of "Dutch wife."

Solution 2:

OED thinks it's a “Dutch” word and derives from historical emnity between the English and Dutch. It seems to have a variety of meanings, and I'm not entirely sure about making love to a bolster (although I suppose it’s something to cuddle). It’s interesting that the Guardian quote attributes the same derisive use to the Japanese.

Dutch wife n. (see quots. and Special uses 2).

1891   J. S. Farmer Slang II. 349   Dutch-wife, a bolster.
1965   W. Young Eros Denied xxvii. 271   We call..a masturbation machine a Dutch husband or wife.
1966   ‘G. Black’ You want to die, Johnny? vi. 114   ‘What's this great long bolster for?..’ ‘Colonial invention. For the hated Imperialists. Known as a Dutch wife.’
1967   Guardian 19 May 9/6   He will liberate man from dependence on the opposite sex by constructing what seems to be known in Japan as a ‘Dutch Wife’; a kind of life-size mechanical doll with built-in electric heating and all the other refinements.

S2

Characteristic of or attributed to the Dutch; often with an opprobrious or derisive application, largely due to the rivalry and enmity between the English and Dutch in the 17th c. Often with allusion to the drinking habits ascribed to the ‘Dutch’; also to the broad heavy figures attributed to the Netherlanders, or to their flat-bottomed vessels. Sometimes little more than = foreign, un-English.

Solution 3:

Dutch wife: Any item or person that makes rest or sleep more pleasant or practical, often away from home. Can refer to pillows, instruments of pleasure, surrogate women, or vending machines which carry prophylactics or pleasure items. Several similar references from Romania, Armenia, Italy, Early English Colonies, Japan(modern); similar to Голландська дружина (Ukrainian)