Kevin Gande, 34, from Laindon, Essex, and Kevin Jones, 38, from Bow, east London, received four year sentences at Isleworth Crown Court, south-west London, after pleading guilty to handling stolen goods.

These are two very important pieces of our artistic heritage

Alan Borg V&A director

The Constable works were stolen from a vault at the Victoria and Albert museum in November 1998 but were not discovered missing until months later when another museum asked to borrow them.

Dr Alan Borg, the museum's director, said he was delighted to get the paintings back.

"These are two very important pieces of our artistic heritage," he said.

Loaded weapon

Gande and Jones were arrested in January as they tried to sell the art works - Dedham, Lock and Mill (1810-1815) and Sketch for Valley Farm (1835) - at a hotel in west London.

Detectives had received a tip off that the pair were involved in an operation to sell the stolen paintings and mounted a surveillance operation.

Sketch for Valley Farm: The two painitngs are worth �1m

Officers from the National Crime Squad later discovered Jones was carrying a loaded weapon.

He was sentenced to two years to run consecutively for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of ammunition.

Detective Chief Inspector Mick Deats said: "The officers involved are to be congratulated for the way they handled themselves when they realised that one of the suspects had a loaded firearm."

The two eight inch by six inch paintings were donated to the Kensington museum by the artist's daughter, Isabel, in 1888.